Ms. Sutherland ‘s third grade class will be examining films that deal with the prejudices that Black athletes encountered in this century and how their civil rights were affected. While the black men in baseball overcame great obstacles to become part of the Major Leagues, women athletes also had to contend with gender prejudices.
There were many great women athletes who broke records and paved the way for modern athletes, including Wilma Rudolph who was told as a child that she would never walk due to a case of polio. Yet she went on the be the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. This woman, like Forrest Gump, managed to shed her leg braces and become a great runner. We will study her life and her accomplishments and compare them to the lives of the male leaguers. As an introduction to this unit and to stimulate interest, we will watch the film Wilma Rudolph from the American Women of Achievement Series. There are several films in this series dedicated to strong, interesting American women.
Wilma Rudolph’s triumph against adversity is the type of story journalists love. She was born in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee on June 23, 1940, the 20th of 22 children to loving but poor parents. Perhaps the name of her hometown was portentous of things to come. She weighed only 4 pounds and was not a strong child. At the age of four , she contracted polio and was fitted with a leg brace for her useless left leg. She was never supposed to walk, and wasn’t even allowed to go to school with her numerous siblings. However, she did have a strong will and a mother who encouraged her. She religiously exercised her leg and became strong enough to go to school. In true legend fashion, she took off the brace one Sunday morning because she wanted to walk up the aisle at church.
From then on, she ran her way to fame. She became a star basketball player in high school and received a track and field scholarship to college. Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull, is a picture book style biography for younger readers that can be read in one sitting to the students. We can read it and discuss it together and then the class can go on to the longer biographies at their leisure. These longer biographies include Wilma Rudolph by Wayne Coffey, which is in large print, and Wilma Rudolph by Victoria Sherrow. A variety of reading levels will be served by these books. The longer biographies address the fact that she became an unwed mother in 1958, while training for the Olympics. In 1960, she became known as the fastest woman in the world when she won three gold medals at the World Olympics, despite the fact that she suffered a twisted ankle on the first day. She broke a record by winning three medals in the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash and the 300 meter dash.
After college, unlike many of today’s Olympic athletes who sign endorsement and pro contracts, she settled down into a relatively normal family life, teaching second grade and raising her children. She did become very involved in the Civil Rights Movement, by showing up at protests and letting herself be photographed. She later founded the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which provides free sports coaching to young students. The only string attached is that they must keep up their grades. Wilma Rudolph is certainly a good role model for all children,. Her story can be used in lessons on Black History, Civil Rights, Sports and Women’s History.
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