Most Famous Ohio State Alum of All Time?

[AKAK]

Are you fucking serious?


Uhhh, how about standing tall in the face of the biggest racist in the human history?

No, that's what he did, what was the impact of that?

I guess my question is, really, what was the impact of Owens being the "poster child" for proving the Aryan Propaganda machine wrong?

Hitler and the Nazi's actually got very good reviews on the 1936 Olympics at the time, journalist William Schirer (Later Author of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and no Hitler lover himself) wrote in his diary:

?I'm afraid the Nazis have succeeded with their propaganda. First, the Nazis have run the Games on a lavish scale never before experienced, and this has appealed to the athletes. Second, the Nazis have put up a very good front for the general visitors, especially the big businessmen?

I guess my point is that a lot of the lore around Owens has sort of had legendary status/importance to it after the fact... I mean, how many of us heard the story of him being snubbed by Hitler (the handshake refusal) that really didn't happen (at least in that way, Hitler only congratulated the German Athletes, and then only on the first day of the games). Apparently Hitler at least waived to him from his box. More than FDR, apparently.

 

[buckeyegrad]

I guess my point is that a lot of the lore around Owens has sort of had legendary status/importance to it after the fact... I mean, how many of us heard the story of him being snubbed by Hitler (the handshake refusal) that really didn't happen (at least in that way, Hitler only congratulated the German Athletes, and then only on the first day of the games). Apparently Hitler at least waived to him from his box. More than FDR, apparently.

You don't think the lore that surrounds Owens has had a social impact.....perhaps even more so than what he actually did? How many people has Owens' story inspired? How many people has he served as a role model? Is there another OSU alumn who can claim to have had such an impact on the collective conscious of the United States, whether that impact is built upon facts, myths, or a combination of the two?

 

[AKAK]

You don't think the lore that surrounds Owens has had a social impact.....perhaps even more so than what he actually did? How many people has Owens' story inspired? How many people has he served as a role model? Is there another OSU alumn who can claim to have had such an impact on the collective conscious of the United States, whether that impact is built upon facts, myths, or a combination of the two?

I never said I "didn't think" it had a social impact, I'm just kind of curious as to what it really was, and, though its not a prerequisite of the thread, how much we can actually attribute to Owens himself and the mythology that surrounds him.

Incidentally, I always felt that the "legend" of Owens' achievements were misplaced, even after the fact. I don't have a problem with anyone "showing up" Nazis... but... I never felt good about the idea that he was better than Hitler's "Aryans" and Hitler snubbed him... etc, etc, etc, when I'm sure he was much more directly discriminated against in the U.S. than he was in Germany. So, why is it cool that he was Better than German whites but probably treated worse by American whites. Propaganda all around.

Hitler didn't snub me?it was [FDR] who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram.

-- Owens

Owens was cheered enthusiastically by 110,000 people in Berlin's Olympic Stadium and later ordinary Germans sought his autograph when they saw him in the streets. Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels as whites, an irony at the time given that blacks in the United States were denied equal rights. After a New York ticker-tape parade in his honor, Owens had to ride the freight elevator to attend a reception for him at the Waldorf-Astoria

In the end, I think that Owens should be a powerful symbol of what individuals can achive regardless of racial or economic background... and that is a very good thing... no doubt.

 

[tibor75]

The whole notion that Owens was snubbed by Hitler was a myth.

An

 

[buckeyegrad]

In the end, I think that Owens should be a powerful symbol of what individuals can achive regardless of racial or economic background... and that is a very good thing... no doubt.

I agree and that is why I think he deserves to be at the top of OSU alumni in terms of fame/influence.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Richard Lewis.

































j/k

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

No, that's what he did, what was the impact of that?

I guess my question is, really, what was the impact of Owens being the "poster child" for proving the Aryan Propaganda machine wrong?

Impact isn't always statisticaly quantifiable or outwardly tangible. Think about what Owens did. He almost single-handedly smashed the myth of Aryan superiority in front of the whole world, and did so while representing a country that treated him like shit because of his color. His performance in Berlin may have been to initial spark that caused many a white American back then to re-think their opinions of "Negroes" and helped get the equal rights movement going...

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

jesse owens... and it doesn't have as much to do with social significance as it does athletic significance. he set three world records and tied one world record in forty-five minutes. are you kidding me?

and he did it in ann arbor.

however, the op asks for "most famous." it is jack, and no one else is even close.

 

[cincibuck]

If you didn't read Thurber's stories about his college days, more 's the pity as it is as funny today as it was then. His name still comes up in discussion of satire and humor. But it's not just me saying that:

Amazon web site.
James Grover Thurber.
American writer and cartoonist, who dealt with the frustrations of modern world. Thurber's best-known characters are Walter Mitty, his snarling wife, and silently observing animals. His stories have influenced later writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller. Thurber is generally acknowledged as the greatest American humorist since Mark Twain (1835-1910).

Throw in that he also collaborated with E.B. White. His works made it to Broadway and a 1960s television series, My World and Welcome To It was based on his cartooning style and stories. I also believe he's the author of the poem When Chic Harley Got Away, a wonderful tribute to the school's first All American.

That, folks, is impressive.

 

[AKAK]

Impact isn't always statisticaly quantifiable or outwardly tangible. Think about what Owens did. He almost single-handedly smashed the myth of Aryan superiority in front of the whole world.QUOTE]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with any of that... I would still say Nicklaus is more "famous"... but... whatever.

His performance in Berlin may have been to initial spark that caused many a white American back then to re-think their opinions of "Negroes" and helped get the equal rights movement going..

Now.... that's kind of what I'm trying to get at... I think... I guess, I probably woudn't have taken issue (I'm not really anyway) if bgrad's phraseology was more like the "social impact of his acheivements"-- I still tend to think his victory was kind of overblown politically in '36... I mean... anyone with a stopwatch would have told you that they weren't surprised he beat the Germans...

Hell, at least Joe Louis had lost to Max Schmeling.... (Not a Nazi :) )

But, yeah... they become symbols for fighting tyranny... and... maybe he was a spark to eventually get to Jackie Robinson and on down the line... but... the likelihood is that the Nazi's and WWII, and force of Arms had more to do with that than Owens...

I guess my point is that we try to make these guys into Rosa Parks sometimes...

 

[NewYorkBuck]

I can think of two others - William Fowler. Nobel Prize - Physics - 1983 for nuclear interaction for formation of elements. Also Paul Flory. Nobel Prize - Chemistry - 1974 for study of macromolecules. Nothing against Jack or Jesse - but to me those types of achievements are probably more important to humanity than winning a game of golf or running fast......

 

[Ttown]

jesse owens... and it doesn't have as much to do with social significance as it does athletic significance. he set three world records and tied one world record in forty-five minutes. are you kidding me?

and he did it in ann arbor.

however, the op asks for "most famous." it is jack, and no one else is even close.

These are my choices too.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

Nothing against Jack or Jesse - but to me those types of achievements are probably more important to humanity than winning a game of golf or running fast......

of course. however, spending a few hours in a soup kitchen is more important, too. again, the op adds "fame" to the equation. there is little question about whose names belong at the top of the list.

 

[buckeyegrad]

however, the op asks for "most famous." it is jack, and no one else is even close.

I wonder if that is really true...I mean, if we did a survey on the street, which name would be more recognizable? After all, if you don't pay attention to golf...and there are a lot of people who don't...or simply know a lot about sports, you probably would hear Jack's name and assume he's that actor whose always playing psychos in movies. On the other hand, most elementary and secondary American history books are likely to have a paragraph, if not a picture of Jesse Owens at the '36 Olympics.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

I wonder if that is really true...I mean, if we did a survey on the street, which name would be more recognizable? After all, if you don't pay attention to golf...and there are a lot of people who don't...or simply know a lot about sports, you probably would hear Jack's name and assume he's that actor whose always playing psychos in movies. On the other hand, most elementary and secondary American history books are likely to have a paragraph, if not a picture of Jesse Owens at the '36 Olympics.

i respect your opinion, but i have to wholeheartedly disagree. in pure "recognizablility," i think jack nicklaus wins hands down. i don't think it's close. for one, owens was most popular 70 years ago. while nicklaus is not at the stage of his life where he is the most popular, he is still a living icon. golf is a major sport, and his name is brought up so much more often than owen's. if you were to hold up pictures of both and ask others to name them, nicklaus would undoubtedly be correctly identified much, much more often. the nicklaus name can be found on golf courses to golf clubs to apparel to streets, while the owens name won't be found in nearly as many places for nearly as many reasons. nicklaus can be found in commercials and print ads. owens? not so much.