Jack Johnson's was nicknamed
the "Galveston Giant." He was an American boxer, who—at the height of the Jim Crow era—became the first African American world
heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). Johnson was faced with much
controversy when he was charged with violating the Mann Act in 1912, even though there was an
obvious lack of evidence and the charge was largely racially biased. In a
documentary about his life, Ken Burns notes that "for more than
thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious
African-American on Earth".
Johnson was born the third child of
nine, and the first son, of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, two former
slaves who worked blue collar jobs as a janitor and a dishwasher to support
their children and put them through school. His father Henry served as a
civilian teamster of the Union’s 38th Colored Infantry, and was a role model
for his son. As Jack once said, his father was "The most perfect physical
specimen that he had ever seen," although his father was only 5 ft
5 in (1.65 m) and left with an atrophied right leg from his service in
the war.
Growing up
in Galveston, Texas, Johnson attended five years of school and was known as a
bright, talkative, and energetic kid. Like all of his siblings, Jack was
expected to work to keep the family going while he was growing up. He helped
sweep classrooms to ease the work for his father, and he worked for the local
milk man before school, taking care of the horses while the milk man got off to
make deliveries. For this work he was paid 10 cents and a red pair of socks,
which his boss had a seemingly endless supply of, every Saturday.
Although Jack grew up in the South, he
said that segregation was not an issue in the somewhat secluded city of
Galveston, as everyone living in Galveston’s 12th Ward was poor and went
through the same struggles. Johnson remembers growing up with a
"gang" of white boys, in which he never felt victimized or excluded.
Remembering his childhood, Johnson said, "As I grew up, the white boys
were my friends and my pals. I ate with them, played with them and slept at their
homes. Their mothers gave me cookies, and I ate at their tables. No one ever
taught me that white men were superior to me." Jack carried this
mentality to his boxing career, as he would not be intimidated to fight any
man, no matter their race.
During
his days as a child Johnson was a frail young boy and not much of a fighter, as
he grew up under the protection of his two older sisters until he was twelve
years old. Jack was usually able to avoid quarrels until he was twelve
years old, and was confronted by a boy who hit him on the jaw. About to run
away from the quarrel Johnson remembers Grandma Gilmore, or his mother (the
story varies by whomever tells it), who told him, "Arthur, if you do not
whip Willie, I shall whip you". After winning the fight, Johnson
developed a new mentality, and toughness to carry with him through his life.
After Johnson quit attending school, he
began a job working at the local docks, soon discovering that he hated it. He
made several other attempts at working other jobs around town, until one day he
made his way to Dallas, finding work at the race track exercising horses. Jack
stuck with this job until he would find a new apprenticeship for a carriage
painter by the name of Walter Lewis. Lewis, who had a passion for boxing,
enjoyed watching friends spar, and although boxing was somewhat new to Johnson,
he began to learn how to hit hard and strong. Johnson later claimed that
it was thanks to Lewis that he would become a boxer.
After returning home for a short period of time, Johnson once
again left at the age of 16, this time heading for Manhattan. While in Manhattan,
Jack found living arrangements with Joe Walcott, a welterweight fighter from
the West Indies. Once again Johnson found work exercising horses for the
local stable, until he was fired for exhausting a horse. Soon finding
employment as a janitor for a gym owned by German born heavyweight fighter,
Herman Berneau, Johnson eventually put away enough for two pairs of boxing
gloves, sparring every chance he got. Throughout his time in Manhattan,
living with Walcott and working for Berneau, Johnson began to develop his
unique style of fighting which would make him famous.
Returning home from Manhattan a much
bigger and stronger man, Johnson quickly got a chance to test his new fighting
skills in a quarrel against a man named Davie Pierson. Johnson remembers
Pearson as a much more "grown and toughened" man, who accused Jack of
turning him in to the police over a game of craps. When both of them were
released from jail, they met at the docks, and were set to fight in the midst
of a large crowd. After beating the much bigger, older man Johnson began to
think that he could make a career out of his skills as a fighter. Johnson
soon got his chance fighting in a summer league against a man named John
"Must Have It" Lee. Because Prize fighting was illegal in Texas the
fight was broken up, and moved to the beach where Johnson won his first fight,
and a prize of one dollar and fifty cents. Though this fight was just a
small steppingstone in Johnson’s career, he returned home confident in his
career as a fighter, and began his journey towards a historical career in the
sport.
Jack Johnson is the inventor of the
wrench. He patented it on April 18, 1902. He invented it while he was in jail
in Kansas.
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