They were dubbed the Olympic Oaks. They found their genesis in the 1936 Olympic Games held in Nazi Germany. Each Gold Medal Winner received a potted one-year-old oak sapling.
The first American to win a gold medal was Cornelius Johnson. On the first day of the competition he won the high jump. Mr. Johnson was no ordinary champion. He was a black athlete whose victory was a slap in the face to Hitler and his regime. You see Hitler viewed Johnson, and his race, as inferior. Having Cornelius standing as the Gold Medal winner made a significant statement dispelling one-sided superiority.
Cornelius Johnson was joined on the medal stand with two other black athletes, Delos Thurber and Dave Albritton. The three of them stood boldly as a statement of strength. Their victories were far from inferior. They were a tangible statement of success in the face of the erroneous ideology of the German leader.
During the medal ceremony, Delos Thurber, Cornelius Johnson and Dave Albritton raised their arms in what was known as a Bellamy salute. It was a tribute to the U.S. flag. Their sideway facing hands were in direct contrast to the German salute. A clear statement that they would not be pushed down regardless of the bigoted throngs surrounding them.
The Olympic Oak, given to Johnson, was planted at his home in Los Angeles. “It grew to a height of almost 50 feet and for decades was a sturdy and noble neighbor to the residents of the area that would later become part of Koreatown, offering shade and, if you were in the know, history.”
Twenty-four gold medals were awarded to US athletes in 1936. Of those 24 seedlings transported back to American only 8 are known to still exist. Two of them are located on the University of Southern California campus.
Markers are a necessary component of remembrances. Each of these remaining Oak Trees tell a story of strength, perseverance, courage, and victory. They represent a person who held a place in history. Some have said that what happened at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games were the seeds planted for the Civil Rights Movement.
Jesse Owens was the face of those Olympics. Delos Thurber, Cornelius Johnson and Dave Albritton, although not as well known, began the move toward subtle defiance. They were the first on the awards platform. They were the first to display their presence and had no intention of fading into the mire of segregation.
Where have you planted your “Olympic Oak?” What have you done to plant that from which you may not benefit long term. What the black athletes of the 1936 Olympic games began, none of them benefited as much as ensuing generations. But they planted anyway.