On Sunday August 8, 2010, a group of admirers will gather in Baltimore to pay tribute to a man considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time. Would you be surprised if his name is not Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali? Joe Gans was the first black boxing champion in the history of the sport. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and August 10, 2010 will mark the 100th anniversary of his death.
The history and legend of Joe Gans has been lost on residents of Baltimore. They honor hometown heroes like Babe Ruth, Billie Holiday and Thurgood Marshall and rightfully so, but how did Gans slip from memory?
In New York City at Madison Square Garden, there is a statue of Joe Gans. A painting of him hangs in the National Gallery of Art, and there is a plaque on display in a small town in Goldfield, Nev. The plaque commemorates the historical fight Gans won there in 1906.
There are no such memories or historical landmarks that Joe Gans ever walked the streets or lived in Baltimore. His boyhood home on Argyle Avenue is non-existent, and the hotel he owned at Colvin and Lexington Streets where the legendary jazz pianist Hubie Blake first got his start is also gone.
The real sad part of the legend of this great man is that he has been forgotten by his own. The Reginald Lewis Museum of Maryland Black Culture and African-American History home has one photo of him on its walls!
A recent quote from an unknown author sheds more light on the plight of Joe Gans and African-American legends like him, “Until the lions hire their own historians the glory of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
Spearheading this tribute is not Don King or some other high profile boxing personality; it is a young man by the name of Kevin Grace.
Kevin works for Southwest Airlines’ ground operations and moonlights as a historian during his off hours. The link and common denominator of the two men: they are both black and are Baltimore natives.
The tribute and celebration for Baltimore natives Joe Gans and Henrietta Vinton Davis will be held on Sunday August 8, 2010 at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Center located at 847 North Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland. For ticket information call (410) 225-3130.
For more information on Joe Gans and/or Kevin Grace visit this link.
