JOIN US TO HONOR JESSE OWENS
East Roadway near Public Square to be Designated Jesse Owens Way
Cleveland, Ohio, November 5, 2010 – The year was 1936 – world attention turned to Germany as the Summer Olympic Games played out against the stage of growing unrest in Europe. A swift young athlete from East Technical High School, Jesse Owens, captured four gold medals and shattered the myth of Aryan superiority. Owens was a star at Cleveland’s East Technical High School and The Ohio State University before competing in the ’36 Games, and still makes most lists of the greatest athletic performances of all times.
In connection with the exhibition The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936, now showing at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood, East Roadway (between Superior and Rockwell, parallel to and between W.3rd and Ontario) will be dedicated as Jesse Owens Way on November 15 at 3 pm.
Mayor Frank Jackson, Maltz Museum Founder Milton Maltz, track and field teams from Cleveland Metropolitan School Districts, and Jesse Owens’ daughter Gloria Owens Hemphill are expected to participate in a lively ceremony that is free and open to the public.
The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936, produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, includes video testimonials from Olympians and boycotters, along with an original torch from that year’s Games, historical photographs and film footage. The Museum has added several items of Owens’ personal memorabilia, courtesy of The Ohio State University collection, including his diary from the voyage to Berlin, a gold medal and a trophy won at East Tech High School in 1932.
WHO: Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage/City of Cleveland/Cleveland Metropolitan Schools
WHAT: Jesse Owens Way
WHEN: Monday, November 15th, 3pm
WHERE: East Roadway, between Superior and Rockwell in Public Square
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Adam Teresi – 216.593.0584/ateresi@mmjh.org
About the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: An American Story
Opened in 2005, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage introduces visitors to the beauty and diversity of that heritage in the context of the American experience, promotes an understanding of Jewish history, religion and culture and builds bridges of tolerance and understanding with people of all religions, races, cultures and ethnic backgrounds. It includes An American Story, tracing Ohio’s immigrant history and heritage, and The Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery, an internationally-recognized collection of Judaica. One admission includes unlimited access.
