“Unfortunately for him”: Chicago Defender, July 11, 1919.
“Mexican adventurer”: Undated clipping, Gumby Collection.
“You, who are lynched”: Quoted in Randy Roberts, Papa Jack, p. 212.
“don Jack, whenever he could”: Mc-Gehee, “Dandy and the Mauler.”
“in the grand tradition”: Ibid.
“goddamit go through them”: Quoted in Ward, American Originals, p. 52.
“God, he was big!”: Ibid.
“unconditional surrender”: NYT, January 30, 1920.
“I never knew such gameness”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p.119. “regrettable accident”: Ibid., p. 120.
“Imagine a wide main street”: LAT, June 6, 1920.
“He struts about”: Ibid., July 15, 1920.
“Well, the word was passed”: Ibid., July 16, 1920.
“Several white women there”: Ibid., July 21, 1920.
“The center of the stage”: Ibid.
“Johnson sprawled down in a seat”: Ibid.
“the colored visitors”: Ibid.
“It was a memorable journey”: Jack Johnson, Inside the Ring and Out, p.123.
“I’m damn glad”: NYT, July 19, 1920.
“everything arranged”: LAT, July 20, 1920.
“ice cream sprees”: NYT, July 27, 1920.
“This man deserves”: Ibid., September 15, 1920.
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE STEPPER
“It is alleged”: Trusty Prisoner’s Agreement, Jack Johnson File, Inmate Case Files—United States Penitentiary–Leavenworth; Records of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Record Group 129, National Archives—Central Plains Region (hereafter, JJ File). “several thousand dollars”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 128.
“baseball park orderly”: Leavenworth Post, September 20, 1920.
“In all, my imprisonment”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 129.
“did use the guard’s toilet”: Report, November 3, 1920, JJ File.
“rude language”: Report, November 29, 1920, JJ File.
“This prisoner does not get up”: Report, January 21, 1921, JJ File.
“loafing in main hall”: Ibid.
“This prisoner is an orderly”: Undated report, JJ File.
407 “found little cause for complaint”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p.132. “was unable to find one”: Ibid.
“Wonder why ‘Meow! Meow!’”: Leavenworth New Era, May 6, 1921.
“I have used his expressions”: Melville Butler File, Inmate Case Files—United States Penitentiary–Leavenworth; Records of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Record Group 129, National Archives—Central Plains Region.
“He was a good friend”: O’Dare, Philosophy of the Dusk, p.131.
“Nothing seemed to trouble him”: Rudensky, The Gonif, p. 210.
“every field”: Billboard, November 27, 1920.
“Scott will win sure”: Jack Johnson to Billy McLean [sic] (MicClain), November 18, 1920, JJ File.
“boxing gloves, punching bag”: Jack Johnson to Lucille Johnson, November 20, 1920, JJ File.
“Tell Gus to … locate [Owens]”: Jack Johnson to Lucille Johnson, November 8, 1920, JJ File.
“Nothing wrong with me”: Ibid., November 11, 1920.
“There comes Jack now”: Leavenworth New Era, November 26, 1920.
“Hello dear”: Jack Johnson to Lucille Johnson, November 26, 1920, JJ File.
“It was the opinion”: NYT, November 26, 1920.
“I am filled with power”: Beloit (WI) Daily News, February 21, 1921.
“and then we will continue”: Jack Johnson to Lucille Johnson, December 31, 1920, JJ File.
“30 or 40 young white girls”: Lewis J. Baley to D. S. Dickerson, January 20, 1921, JJ File.
“what an unfair trial”: Jack Johnson to Ben Allen, March 30, 1921, JJ File.
“influential friends”: Dick Ellis to Jack Johnson, March 29, 1921, JJ File.
“Cannot see my way clear”: Jack Johnson to William Bottoms, undated, JJ File.
“From Jack Johnson’s correspondence”: Leavenworth New Era, February 25, 1921.
“The idea is that a young man”: M. D. Waltner to August V. Anderson, March 31, 1921, JJ File.
“EXPECT A GOOD TIME”: Gus Rhodes to Jack Johnson, June 20, 1921, JJ File.
“Many close friends”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p.134.
“It doesn’t make any difference”: NYT, July 10, 1921.
“What a relief”: Leavenworth New Era, July 15, 1921.
“Jack Johnson never was a slacker”: NYT, July 10, 1921.
“Jack Johnson is out”: Chicago Broad Ax, July 14, 1921.
“Chicago and my friends”: Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1921.
“The reception and the feasting”: Chicago Broad Ax, July 14, 1921.
“Johnson is through”: Quoted in Hietala, Fight of the Century, p. 142.
“The commissioners are in office”: NYT August 1, 1921.
“I was in my dressing room”: Ethel Waters, His Eye Is on the Sparrow, p. 133.
“I just held my breath”: Chicago Defender, March 11, 1921.
“a super production”: Advertisement for New Douglas Theater in New York, January 8, 1922, Hawes Collection.
“in which all the performers”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 135.
“I am forty-five years old.”: Undated 1923 clipping, archives of Antiquities of the Prize Ring.
“beautiful decorations”: Undated handbill from Hawes Collection.
“As a prize-fighter”: Jack Johnson 1924 recording, “Runnin’ Down the Title Holder,” Tim Brooks Collection.
“evidence involving Johnson”: NYT, February 17, 1924.
“Echoes of the old wrath”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 138.
“gentlemanly and courteous manner”: Irene Johnson, “My Husband,” preface to Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 16.
“There could not be a man”: Ibid.
“Lester had youth”: David Beardsley, undated article, Boxing Report, Jim Johnston Collection.
“back on the boards”: Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 249.
“Johnson used his old-time tactics”: Drum-right (OK) Evening Derrick, September 7, 1926.
“ ‘white buzzard’ hangers-on”: NYT, October 7, 1926.
“ignorant, perverse child”: Quoted in Duberman, Paul Robeson, p. 104.
“Must a man, because of his color”: Irene Johnson, “My Husband,” preface to Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, p. 16.
“the best all-around heavyweight in history”: The Ring, June 1927.
430 “I would have been able to pay my debts”: Beloit (WI) Daily News, October 4, 1928.
“My next fight”: NYT, September 16, 1928.
“The story of Jack Johnson”: NYT, September 14, 1928.
“If the Democrats”: NYT, September 19, 1928.
“The tall, somewhat paunchy”: Thurber, “Big Boy.”
“orchestra leader”: NYT, January 24, 1929.
“Jack Johnson made a few voodoo passes”:
Undated 1931 clipping from The Ring, Jim Johnston Collection.
“Nothing of the great master”: Milwaukee Eagle, April 29, 1931.
“a crying shame”: LAT, June 12, 1931.
“Physically unfit!”: Undated clipping from The Ring, Jim Johnston Collection.
“a tremendous ovation”: London Times, January 3, 1932.
“You had to come up”: Bricktop and Haskins, Bricktop, p. 185.
“What you aim to do”: Quoted in Farr, Black Champion, p. 234.
“Let the son of a bitch”: Quoted in Dan Parker, “Johnson-Louis Feud Traces Back to Blackburn,” New York Daily Mirror, June 12, 1946.
“You know, boy”: Louis, My Life, p.36.
“It was thrilling”: Ibid., p.57.
“Every man’s got a right”: quoted in Horn,
“Two Champions.”
“imbibed with joy”: quot
ed in ibid.
“Louis has the stuff”: Ibid.
“Boy, you’re the greatest fighter”: Louis, My Life, p. 69.
“I can make a champion”: Ibid.
“flash in the pan”: Ibid.
“I respected this man”: Ibid.
“Get that black cat”: Horn, “Two Champions.”
“lives like an animal”: Mead, Champion, p.68.
“One time we were talking”: Louis, My Life, p. 39.
“never disgrace the Race”: Quoted in Hietala, Fight of the Century, p. 159.
“If Joe becomes champion”: Quoted in Horn, “Two Champions.”
“Louis holds his left too low”: Richmond Afro-American, June 15, 1936.
“Once the hero of his race”: Quoted in Horn, “Two Champions.”
JACK JOHNSON RAZZED: New York Amsterdam News, March 13, 1937.
“Jack Johnson was still running”: Louis, My Life, p. 111.
“we got another chance!”: Ibid., p. 119.
“I figured out the formula”: quoted in Farr, Black Champion, p. 232.
“When the culture quotient”: Jay, Anomalies, p.41.
“Ladies and gentlemen”: Undated unsourced article by Linton Baldwin, Jim Johnston Collection.
“It didn’t do him much good”: Louis, My Life, p. 69.
“Everybody thinks I’m jealous”: quoted in Fleischer, “Johnson, Craftiest Boxer.”
“I want to say here”: Quoted in Hietala, Fight of the Century, p. 185.
“intense race hatred”: Pittsburgh Courier, June 21, 1938.
“Johnson’s background”: Quoted in Hietala, Fight of the Century, p. 146.
“Johnson has stated”: New York Amsterdam News, undated clipping, Gumby Collection.
“got plenty of nothin’”: Associated Press in undated 1944 clipping, Gumby Collection.
“The Angel said”: Stump, “Rowdy Reign.”
“It was like this”: Clem Boddington, “$15,000 Windfall.”
“conversed with my wife”: Ibid.
“This is the beginning”: Fleischer, “Johnson, Craftiest Boxer.”
“In my humble opinion”: Ibid.
“They told us we could eat”: Lucas, Black Gladiator, p. 186.
“He struck the first blow”: Richmond, Afro-American, June 22, 1946.
“I loved him because of his courage”: Ibid.
____________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARCHIVES
Antiquities of the Prize Ring
Tim Brooks Collection
Hawes Collection
Jim Johnston Collection
Alexander Gumby Collection, Special Collections Division, Columbia University
Inmate Case Files; United States Penitentiary–Leavenworth; Records of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Record Group 129 National Archives and Record Administration—Central Plains Region (Kansas City)
George P. Johnson Film Collection, University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
Jack Johnson Vertical Files Folder, Schomburg Collections, New York Public Library
Bill Loughman Collection
Gary Phillips Collection
Booker T. Washington Papers, Library of Congress
Records of the War Department, Group 165, National Archives
U.S. v. Johnson, General Records of the Department of Justice, File Number 16421, Record Group 60.
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
“Amateur, The” (W. F. Corbett). Burns & Johnson in Australia. Sydney, 1909.
Anderson, Jervis. “Black Heavies.” American Scholar, Summer 1978.
Anonymous. “Arthur Cravan vs. Jack Johnson.” The Soil, April 1917.
Armstrong, Louis. Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans. New York, 1968.
Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York, 1998.
———.Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld. De Kalb, Ill., 1986.
Ashe, Arthur R., Jr. A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete, 1619–1918. New York, 1998.
Astor, Gerald…. And a Credit to His Race: The Hard Life and Times of Joseph Louis Barrow a.k.a. Joe Louis. New York, 1974.
Babyak, Jolene. Birdman: The Many Faces of Robert Stroud. Berkeley, Calif., 1994.
Barr, Alwyn. Black Texans: A History of African Americans, 1528–1995. Norman, Okla., 1973.
Barton, George A. My Lifetime in Sports. Minneapolis, 1957.
Batchelor, Denzil. Gods with Gloves On. London, 1946.
———. Jack Johnson and His Times. London, 1956.
Beach, Rex. The Jeffries-Johnson Fight. Chicago, 1910.
Beardsley, Dave. “I Saw Jack Johnson Fight.” Boxing Report, undated clipping, Jim Johnston Collection.
Beasley, Ellen. The Alleys and Back Buildings of Galveston. Houston, 1996.
Beasley, Ellen, and Stanley Fox. Galveston Architectural Guidebook. Houston, 1996.
Bederman, Gail. Manliness & Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880–1917. Chicago, 1995.
Bell, Frank. Gladiators of the Glittering Churches. Helena, Mont., 1985.
Bell, Leslie. Inside the Fight Game. London, 1952.
Bennison, Ben. Famous Fights and Fighters. London, 1938.
Bercovici, Konrad. Around the World in New York. New York, 1924.
Berlin, Edward A. King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. New York, 1994.
Bettinson, A. F., and Ben Bennison, The Home of Boxing. London, 1923.
Blight, David. “The Birth of a Genre: Slavery on Film.” Common-Place 1, no. 4 (July 2001).
Biddle, Cordelia Drexel, as told to Kyle Crichton. My Philadelphia Father. New York, 1967.
Boddington, Clem. “$15,000 Windfall.” Unsourced clipping, Jim Johnston Collection.
Booth, J. B. Boxers and Others. London, 1933.
Borràs, Maria Lluïsa. Arthur Cravan: Une stratégie du scandale. Paris, 1997.
Bradford, Perry. Born with the Blues. New York, 1965.
Brearley, H. C. “Ba-ad Nigger.” South Atlantic Quarterly 38 (1939).
Bricktop, with James Haskins. Bricktop. New York, 1983.
Brooks, Tim. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry. Chicago, 2004.
Broome, Richard. “The Australian Reaction to Jack Johnson, American Pugilist, 1907–9.” In Richard Cashman and Michael McKernan, eds., Sport in History. St. Lucia, Queensland, 1979.
Buchan, Don. “I Promoted Jack Johnson’s Last Fight.” Boxing Illustrated, undated clipping.
Burke, Carolyn. Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy. Berkeley, Calif., 1996.
Burke, John. Rogue’s Progress: The Fabulous Adventures of Wilson Mizner. New York, 1975.
Burns, Tommy. “Tommy Burns: The Rise and Fall of Our Almost Forgotten Champion.” Toronto Globe and Mail, July 3, 1971.
Butters, Gerald R., Jr. Black Manhood on the Silent Screen. Lawrence, Kans., 2002.
Callis, Tracy. “Jack Johnson … ‘Bad Nigger.’” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, November 2000.
———. “Jeffries and Other Heavyweights.” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, April 2003.
———.“Jim Jeffries … Warhorse of Yesteryear,” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, April 2001.
———. “Joe Choynski … ‘Clever, Shifty, and Explosive.” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, May 2002.
———.“Tommy Burns: He of the Terrible Right Hand,” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, February 2004.
Callis, Tracy, Chuck Hasson, and Mike DeLisa. Philadelphia’s Boxing Heritage, 1876–1976. Charleston, S.C., 2002.
Capeci, Dominic J., Jr., and Martha Wilkerson. “Multifarious Hero: Joe Louis, American Society and Race Relations During World Crisis, 1935–1945.” Journal of Sport History 10, no. 3 (Winter 1983).
Captain, Gwendolyn. “Enter Ladies and Gentlemen of Color: Gender, Sport, and the Ideal of African American Manhood and Womanhood During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” Journal of Sport History 18, no. 1
(Spring 1991).
Chaplin, Ralph. Wobbly: The Rough-and-Tumble Story of an American Radical. Chicago, 1948.
Chicago Vice Commission. The Social Evil in Chicago. Chicago, 1911.
Choynski, Joe. “I Fought ’Em All.” Fight Stories, 1930.
Coady, Robert. “Arthur Cravan vs. Jack Johnson.” The Soil 1, no. 4 (April 1917).
Cochran, Charles. Showman Looks On. London, 1945.
Cooper, Henry. The Great Heavyweights. Secaucus, N.J., 1978.
Corbett, Jim. The Roar of the Crowd: The True Tale of the Rise and Fall of a Champion. New York, 1976.
Corn, Elliott J. The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America. Ithaca, N.Y., 1986.
Corri, Eugene. Gloves and the Man. London, 1928.
———. Thirty Years a Referee. London, 1915.
Curley, Jack (with Frank Graham). Memoirs of a Promoter (in 24 installments). The Ring, May 1930–April 1932.
Dartnell, Fred. “Seconds Out!” Chats About Boxers, Their Trainers and Patrons. New York, 1924.
Decoy, Robert H. The Big Black Fire. Los Angeles, 1969.
Deghy, Guy. Noble and Manly: The History of the National Sporting Club. London, 1956.
Dempsey, Jack (with Barbara Piatelli Dempsey). Dempsey. New York, 1977.
Diamond, Wilfrid. Kings of the Ring. London, 1954.
Donovan, Mike. The Roosevelt That I Know and Recollections of the Most Famous American Fighting Men. New York, 1909.
Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson: A Biography. New York, 1989.
Erbstein, Charles E. The Show-Up: Stories Before the Bar. Chicago, 1926.
Ehrman, Pete. “The White Hope Who Outsped Jack Johnson.” Wail! … The CBZ Journal, October 2002.
Etter, Roberta, and Stuart Schneider. Halley’s Comet: Memories of 1910. New York, 1985.
Farr, Finis. Black Champion: The Life and Times of Jack Johnson. New York, 1964.
———. “Black Hamlet of the Heavyweights.” Sports Illustrated, June 15, 1959.
Fields, Armond. James J. Corbett: A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner. Jefferson, N.C., 2001.
Fleischer, Nat. 50 Years at Ringside. New York, 1958.
———. Fighting Furies: Story of the Golden Era of Jack Johnson, Sam Langford and Their Negro Contemporaries. New York, 1939.
———.“Fleischer Bought Confession but Didn’t Believe It.” The Ring, January 1969.
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