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Classroom · Grades 5–12

Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens’s victories in Nazi Berlin exposed a contradiction: a Black athlete celebrated as proof against racial supremacy returned to a country that still segregated him.

Lesson at a Glance

Grades
Grades 5–12
Time
One class period (20–40 minutes)
Standards
NCSS Themes 2 (Time, Continuity, and Change) and 9 (Global Connections); C3 D2.His.6.6-8, D2.His.10.6-8
Reading
Jesse Owens (profile)

Big Idea

Jesse Owens’s victories in Nazi Berlin exposed a contradiction: a Black athlete celebrated as proof against racial supremacy returned to a country that still segregated him.

Before Class

Students read the profile of Jesse Owens, including the Key Dates and Sources.

Discussion Questions

  1. Owens said the snub that mattered was not Hitler’s but his own president’s. What did he mean, and why is that statement so often left out of the story?
  2. Why did the Nazi regime want to use the 1936 Games as a showcase, and how did Owens’s victories complicate that plan?
  3. The Amateur Athletic Union suspended Owens for refusing to continue an unpaid tour. Was that fair? What does it reveal about who profited from athletes’ fame?
  4. Owens changed his views between Blackthink (1970) and I Have Changed (1972). What might cause a public figure to revise his thinking about race late in life?

Activity

Students examine the National Archives photograph of Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a German photograph seized after the Second World War, and describe what they see before reading any caption. In small groups (20–30 minutes), they discuss who took the photograph and for what purpose, then read the profile’s sections on Berlin and Owens’s return home. Each group writes two captions for the image: one a German newspaper of 1936 might have printed, and one Owens himself might have written in 1970.

Primary Sources

Cite this page
MLA
“Classroom lesson: Jesse Owens.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/classroom/jesse-owens/.
APA
Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Classroom lesson: Jesse Owens. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/classroom/jesse-owens/
Chicago
Black-History.com Editors. “Classroom lesson: Jesse Owens.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/classroom/jesse-owens/.
Editorial Note

By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.

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