Major Taylor

CTL-E-6903 · Person · other · 1878–1932

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07775 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6903.

Marshall Walter 'Major' Taylor (born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in November 1878 – died June 21, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American track cyclist who became the 1899 world sprint champion and, in Encyclopaedia Britannica's formulation, the first American-born Black athlete of wide renown to reach his sport's international pinnacle; Smithsonian Magazine notes he was only the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport, after Canadian boxer George Dixon. Nicknamed the 'Black Cyclone,' Taylor turned professional in 1896, set numerous world records at distances from the quarter-mile to the two-mile, won the 1899 one-mile world championship in Montreal and the American sprint championship in 1900, and raced across Europe and Australasia — all while enduring Jim Crow bans, refusals by rival riders to compete against him, and threats of violence. He retired in 1910 and self-published his autobiography, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World, in the late 1920s. His final years were spent in Chicago selling the book door to door; he died in a Chicago charity ward and was buried in an unmarked grave at Mount Glenwood Cemetery, until former racers and Schwinn owner Frank W. Schwinn had him reburied there with a marker in 1948.

The record

• Also known as: Marshall Walter Taylor, Marshall W. Taylor, The Black Cyclone, The Worcester Whirlwind

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0190. Firsts disposition: ASSERTED only in attributed, source-exact forms — Britannica's 'first American-born Black athlete of wide renown to reach his sport's international pinnacle' and Smithsonian's 'second Black athlete to become a world champion, after George Dixon'; no unqualified 'first Black world champion' is claimed. DATE FLAGS: Britannica gives his birth as November 27, 1878, while Encyclopedia.com/American National Biography and most other sources give November 26, 1878 — the description therefore says only 'November 1878.' His autobiography's year is given as 1928 (Britannica; Encyclopedia.com) and 1929 (Smithsonian) — the description says 'the late 1920s.' The Chicago tie (final years, death, Mount Glenwood burial and 1948 reburial) is supported by both Smithsonian Magazine and Encyclopedia.com. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Taylor may be the strongest single proof in this packet that athletic supremacy alone could not break Jim Crow — he was the fastest man in his sport and still died unclaimed in a charity ward. Chicago, which gave him his grave and eventually his marker, holds the end of that story. Photo: CLEARED — Major Taylor.jpg, Public domain (Sport-Album der Rad-Welt, 1904; Commons description: 'Major Taylor, US-american cyclist').

Relationships

• Chicago — based in
  Taylor spent his final years in Chicago selling his autobiography door to door and died there in 1932 (Smithsonian Magazine; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Wired as Provisional because Chicago was his final-years residence, not his racing base.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Major Taylor' — born November 27, 1878, Indianapolis, Indiana; died June 21, 1932, Chicago, Illinois; the 1899 world champion in cycling and 'the first American-born Black athlete of wide renown to reach his sport's international pinnacle'; he overcame racism including Jim Crow restrictions, bans by racing organizations and death threats; his 1928 autobiography is The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Major-Taylor (primary source · build store)
• Smithsonian Magazine, Gilbert King, 'The Unknown Story of “The Black Cyclone,” the Cycling Champion Who Broke the Color Barrier' (September 12, 2012) — Marshall W. Taylor, nicknamed 'the Black Cyclone,' won 29 of 49 races entered and in 1899 captured the world championship of cycling, 'just the second black athlete to become a world champion, behind Canadian bantamweight George “Little Chocolate” Dixon'; he self-published his autobiography after six years of writing and spent his last years selling it door-to-door in Chicago; he died in 1932 aged 53 and 'was buried in a pauper's grave at the Mount Glenwood Cemetery in Chicago' — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-unknown-story-of-the-black-cyclone-the-cycling-champion-who-broke-the-color-barrier-33465698/ (primary source · build store)
• Encyclopedia.com, 'Taylor, Marshall Walter (“Major”)' — born 26 November 1878 near Indianapolis, Indiana; died 21 June 1932 in Chicago, Illinois; 'world's fastest bicycle racer and the first American-born African American to become a premier sports figure'; in 1899 he won the world professional sprint championship at Queen's Park track in Montreal and the U.S. national championship, and defended his 1-mile world record twice; he died in the charity ward of a Chicago hospital and was buried in an unmarked grave, until in 1948 Frank Schwinn and other racers moved his grave to a prominent site in Mount Glenwood Cemetery; his autobiography appeared in 1928 and he retired in 1910 — https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/taylor-marshall-walter-major (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6903 · Combined Graph record U-07775 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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