Herbert Douglas Jr

Herbert Douglas, Jr.

In honor of Black History Month, the LBJ Presidential Library held a screening of "The Renaissance Period of the African American in Sports” on Tuesday evening, Feb. 20, 2018. The documentary was presented in partnership with the LBJ School of Public Affairs’ 2018 Barbara Jordan National Forum, Texas Athletics, the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation, and UT’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The documentary explores the story of nine pioneering African American Olympians who shattered records and stereotypes at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

After the screening, Professor Leonard Moore, interim vice president of UT’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, moderated two discussions. First, Moore interviewed Herbert Douglas, Jr., co-executive producer of the documentary and the oldest living African American Olympic medalist. Douglas won the bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 London Olympic games. Then, Cory Redding, a former NFL and UT Longhorn football player; Louis Harrison, the Charles H. Spence, Sr. Centennial Professor in Education at UT; and Kathleen McElroy, senior lecturer and associate director at the School of Journalism at UT’s Moody College of Communication, joined Moore and Douglas on stage for a discussion about African American experiences in sports.