Cementing the history of Jesse Owens for future generations (archived story)

Photo: University Circle, Inc.

(This article is from the archives of the local publication The Land, published in 2022, and was written by GCLEABJ VP of Print Nate Paige. Click here for information about the finished project)

Plans are underway in University Circle’s Rockefeller Park to expand the footprint of one of Cleveland’s greatest heroes: Olympic track star James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens.

The four-time gold medalist is already memorialized in the park via the Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Tree, which was planted on Arbor Day in 2021. The groundbreaking for a plaza in his name will take place later this year.

Owens’s daughter Marlene Owens Rankin said of Cleveland, “Our father’s adopted home and his children’s birthplace, honors his memory with the naming of the Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Plaza. May all who visit embrace his spirit of love for humankind and sense of fair play.”

Read the full story here.