Press Release
African American Lives - "African American Lives 2"
Participant biographies
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2
JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE
In AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a deed dated 1827 from Culpepper County, Virginia helps illustrate the long-forgotten journey of Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s fourth great grandfather, Gabriel Conner. Separated from his family and friends, Conner was taken by his owners 700 miles to western Tennessee, where in a wilderness of pines and mud flats, he performed the backbreaking labor of turning the frontier into a cotton plantation.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, where her early life was closely intertwined with her extended family. She participated in many activities at the Mary Brown Center in East St. Louis, which became a central part of her life and laid the foundation for her track and field success.
Today, Joyner-Kersee is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. Sports Illustrated for Women voted her Female Athlete of the 20th Century, while ESPN named her one of the world’s 50 Greatest Athletes. She was the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the heptathlon, the first woman to score 7,000 points in the heptathlon, and first American woman to win an Olympic gold in the long jump. All told, Joyner-Kersee won six Olympic medals—three gold, one silver and two bronze—in four consecutive Olympic Games.
In 2000, she opened the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis, which provides a variety of educational and recreational activities for thousands of families. Joyner-Kersee has received the Jesse Owens Award, the Volunteers of America Humanitarian Award, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award from CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), and eight honorary doctorate degrees. She has served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club of America Hall of Fame. In 2007, received the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) highest honor, the IOC Women and Sport Trophy.
Joyner-Kersee is the author of two books, A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere and her autobiography, A Kind of Grace. She continues to travel the country as a motivational speaker and works to involve corporations and community groups in her Foundation’s programs.
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2
JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE
In AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a deed dated 1827 from Culpepper County, Virginia helps illustrate the long-forgotten journey of Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s fourth great grandfather, Gabriel Conner. Separated from his family and friends, Conner was taken by his owners 700 miles to western Tennessee, where in a wilderness of pines and mud flats, he performed the backbreaking labor of turning the frontier into a cotton plantation.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, where her early life was closely intertwined with her extended family. She participated in many activities at the Mary Brown Center in East St. Louis, which became a central part of her life and laid the foundation for her track and field success.
Today, Joyner-Kersee is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. Sports Illustrated for Women voted her Female Athlete of the 20th Century, while ESPN named her one of the world’s 50 Greatest Athletes. She was the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the heptathlon, the first woman to score 7,000 points in the heptathlon, and first American woman to win an Olympic gold in the long jump. All told, Joyner-Kersee won six Olympic medals—three gold, one silver and two bronze—in four consecutive Olympic Games.
In 2000, she opened the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis, which provides a variety of educational and recreational activities for thousands of families. Joyner-Kersee has received the Jesse Owens Award, the Volunteers of America Humanitarian Award, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award from CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), and eight honorary doctorate degrees. She has served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club of America Hall of Fame. In 2007, received the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) highest honor, the IOC Women and Sport Trophy.
Joyner-Kersee is the author of two books, A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere and her autobiography, A Kind of Grace. She continues to travel the country as a motivational speaker and works to involve corporations and community groups in her Foundation’s programs.