Thorpe, Jacobus Franciscus (Jim)
Born: May 28, 1887, in Prague, Oklahoma
Died: March 28, 1953, in Lomita, California
Vocations: Olympic Athlete, Track and Field Athlete, Football Player, Baseball Player
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Jim Thorpe, Carbon County; Carlisle, Cumberland County

Keywords: American Professional Football Association; Boston Braves; Canton Bulldogs; Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Decathletes; “Jim Thorpe: All American”; Jim Thorpe Award; Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania; New York Giants; Olympics; Pentathletes; Pop Warner; Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Abstract: Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe was born in 1887 in Prague, Oklahoma. Better known as “Jim,” Thorpe is best known for his all-around athletic ability. After starting his career playing football as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, located in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, his career blossomed into one of the best athletic careers ever. He later became a multiple gold medal winner in the 1912 Olympics, while also having much success in professional football and baseball. After devoting much of his later life to his eight children, by three wives, Thorpe died from a heart attack in Lomita, California, on March 28, 1953.

Biography:

Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe was born May 28, 1887, in Prague, Oklahoma. Thorpe, better known as “Jim,” was the son to Charlotte Vieux and Hiram Thorpe. As one of ten Thorpe children, Jim Thorpe spent most of his time as a young kid tending to the family farm. As a member of the Sac and Fox Indian Tribe, Thorpe was sent to boarding school at the age of six to one that was specifically designed for Native Americans (the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School). During this time, Thorpe’s twin brother, Charles, died while attending the same school. Thorpe bounced in and out of school, often running away due to depression from both his brother and mother’s deaths and also due to multiple arguments with his father. Jim Thorpe returned home to his father in the early 1900s and decided to attend Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. While in school, Thorpe met inspirational coach Glenn “Pop” Warner, who helped Thorpe’s athletic career mature.

Jim Thorpe’s first amazing ability was seen when he surpassed a mark of 5’9” in the high jump, which most older boys were incapable of doing; even more impressive is the fact that Thorpe was wearing overalls at the time. From that point on, Thorpe was asked to play for the football team, where he led Carlisle to an impressive 11-1 record in 1911. The following year, Thorpe and Carlisle won the national championship in football. One of Thorpe’s opponent’s stated, “He was superhuman. There is nothing he can’t do!” Thorpe’s speed and power on the football field, both as a halfback and as a cornerback, fostered his on-going success as a track and field athlete, where he gained most of his fame. He became a member of the varsity squad in 11 different sports, including baseball, football, and track. He was so good in baseball at the time that he was asked to play semi-professional ball, for which Thorpe was paid a minimal fee for his expenses. After competing in all three sports relatively at the same time, Thorpe earned himself a spot on the national track team, after being voted All-American, to represent the United States in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Competing in both the pentathlon and decathlon, Thorpe went on to dominate the rest of the field and won two gold medals. When King Gustav of Sweden presented Thorpe with his medals, Thorpe would later say that this was the proudest moment in his life. Unfortunately, Thorpe’s glory in the spotlight was short-lived. A newspaper reporter revealed that Thorpe had played professional baseball for money, which made him ineligible to compete. Therefore, Jim Thorpe was stripped of any honors he had earned while competing in the Olympic Games. This scandal really hurt Thorpe as he stated, “They used me as a guinea pig to make up the rules.”

Thorpe would go on to play professional baseball and football for over 15 years with various teams such as the New York Giants, the Boston Braves, and the Canton Bulldogs. Despite making a lot of money in baseball at the time, Thorpe sat the bench the majority of the games. He devoted more of his time to football, where he became one of the greatest halfbacks of all time. Thorpe’s last game came in 1929 against the Chicago Cardinals, where he was 41-years-old. Thorpe would later go on to serve a variety of odd-jobs after retiring from athletics. He served as a bartender, a ditch digger, a painter, as well as serving time in the merchant marines. Thorpe also devoted his time speaking to many schools and children about the importance of athletics and how it relates to sportsmanship.

By 1945, Thorpe had married his third and final wife, having already fathered eight children. During 1950, Thorpe became very ill and had no money left. He was hospitalized for lip cancer and three years later, Thorpe died on March 28, 1953, of a heart attack while eating dinner with his wife, Patricia Askew, in Lomita, California. Upon Thorpe’s death in 1953, “the New York Times saluted him as the greatest athlete of them all. There seems to be general agreement that no one ever equaled him on the football gridiron.”

After Thorpe’s death, Mrs. Askew wanted Oklahoma, Thorpe’s home state, to build a memorial and have it erected to remember the late Jim Thorpe. Unfortunately at the time, money was scarce, so she turned her attention towards two small towns in eastern Pennsylvania (Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk) that were trying to attract visitors and business. She convinced both towns to rename themselves into one town: Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. To this day, a monument of Jim Thorpe and his burial site can still be seen there. In 1973, Thorpe also received his amateur status back, and later, he would be given back his gold medals he had won by the International Olympic Committee, in large part due to the work of his children. He would later go on to have an award named after him in 1986 (Jim Thorpe Award), which is given to the best defensive back in college football each year. Thorpe also had a movie made about his life called, Jim Thorpe: All American.

Works:

• College Football Hall of Fame
• Jim Thorpe Award
• NFL 1920s All Decade Team
• Pro Football Hall of Fame

Sources:

• Brown, Don. Young Jim Thorpe. Bright Path. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook Press, 2006.
• Coffey, Wayne. Jim Thorpe. Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1993.
• Crawford, Bill. All American. The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
• “Jim Thorpe Is Dead On West Coast at 64.” New York Times. 29 Mar. 1953: 1.
• Lipsyte, Robert. Jim Thorpe. 20th-Century Jock. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
• Lobb, Nancy. 16 Extraordinary Native Americans. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch Publisher, 1997.
• Newcombe, Jack. The Best of Athletic Boys. The White Man’s Impact on Jim Thorpe. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1975.
• Reising, Robert. Jim Thorpe. The Story of an American Indian. Minneapolis, MN: Dillon Press, 1974.
• Santrey, Laurence. Jim Thorpe. Young Athlete. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1983.
• Sullivan, George. Power Football. The Greatest Running Backs. New York: Atheneum Books, 2001.
• Van Riper Jr., Guernsey. Jim Thorpe. Olympic Champion. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983.
• Wheeler, Robert. Jim Thorpe. World’s Greatest Athlete. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Press, 1975.

This biography was prepared by Zachary Dworak, Fall 2006.