Ninety years after Jesse Owens stunned the world at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, his North Alabama hometown will celebrate the four gold medals that made him a legend and the legacy he left behind.
The Jesse Owens Museum will mark the anniversary Saturday with a special celebration featuring newly acquired memorabilia from Owens and the 1936 Olympics, members of the Owens family and Olympic-style competitions for young athletes.
The event begins at 1 p.m. at the Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum in Oakville, near Danville. Admission to the museum is $5.
Owens, who was born in Oakville in 1913, became one of the most celebrated athletes in Olympic history when he won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4×100-meter relay at the Berlin Games.
His victories carried significance far beyond the track. Owens, a Black American competing in Nazi Germany, delivered his historic performance before an international audience as Adolf Hitler’s regime sought to use the Games to showcase its ideology of Aryan racial superiority.
Saturday’s celebration will give visitors a closer look at that history through a preview of newly acquired Owens and 1936 Berlin Olympics memorabilia. Special guests from the Owens family are also expected to attend.
Young visitors will have an opportunity to create some athletic memories of their own, with a fun run, long jump and sprint among the Olympic-style competitions planned for the afternoon. Medals and awards will be presented to youth participants.
A legacy preserved at home
The celebration will take place on the land where Owens’ story began.
Jesse Owens Memorial Park was dedicated June 29, 1996, when the Olympic torch passed through Oakville on its way to the Summer Games in Atlanta. Owens’ wife, Ruth, and other members of the family participated in the dedication.
Today, the park and museum preserve both Owens’ athletic achievements and his connection to North Alabama.
The grounds include an eight-foot bronze statue of Owens, a replica of his birth home, a broad-jump pit, a replica of the 1936 Olympic torch and an oak tree of the same variety as the tree Owens received following his Olympic victory.
Inside the museum are programs from the 1936 Games, replicas of track uniforms and shoes, and medals and trophies from Owens’ early athletic career. Exhibits trace his life from Oakville through his record-setting career and later humanitarian work.
The park’s mission extends to the generations that have followed him, with an emphasis on youth and opportunities for recreation. Saturday’s youth competitions continue that connection between Owens’ history and the young athletes he inspired.
The 90th anniversary celebration begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum in Oakville.
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