NYSUT celebrates Native American Heritage Month with a new poster honoring Jim Thorpe (1887-1953) the first Native American to win U.S. Olympic gold, placing first in 1912 in the classic pentathlon and the decathlon. Considered one of modern sports’ most versatile athletes, Thorpe played collegiate and professional football and professional baseball and basketball in addition to track and field.
Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in what is now the state of Oklahoma. He attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and was a two-time All-American football player under famed coach Pop Warner.
In 1913, Thorpe signed with the New York Giants and played six major league baseball seasons. He later played for the National Football League and was part of a Native American basketball team. Thorpe appeared in several films and was portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe — All American.
Ranked as the “greatest athlete” of the first 50 years of the 20th century by the Associated Press, Thorpe was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963.
The poster is available for download at the statewide union’s online Publications Ordering Catalog, nysut.org/publications.