Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Jesse Owens: A Biography. By Jacqueline Edmondson. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. 1 vol. 104 p. $35.00. ISBN 10: 0-313-33988-0; 13: 978-0-313-33988-2.

Students will need to read the introduction to this book to begin to understand the role of Jesse Owens in changing his world. Owens' grandson, carrying an Olympic torch through Jesse Owens Memorial Park in Oakville, Alabama on its way to the Atlanta summer games, was treading on soil in a town that in 1983 refused to honor its most famous athletic. A two-page chronology begins the book and three pages of black and white photos are found in chapter three. Appendixes includes names of the African-Americans who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, winners of the Jesse Owens Award, tributes to Owens, and a bibliography of additional sources including electronic. This is a very well detailed biography and could be used to read chapters aloud during Black History Month. Jesse Owens has been honored because he carved the path for those who followed. His story needs a wide audience.