Lot 487
[AFRICAN AMERICANA - SPORTS]. Archive identified to "Mae" Faggs Starr, "The First Lady of Track" and three-time Olympic athlete, incl. inscribed programs from the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and related ephemera.
Sale 2057 - American Historical Ephemera and Photography
Oct 25, 2024
10:00AM ET
Live / Cincinnati
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Estimate
$600 -
800
Price Realized
$762
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Lot Description
[AFRICAN AMERICANA - SPORTS]. Archive identified to "Mae" Faggs Starr, "The First Lady of Track" and three-time Olympic athlete, incl. inscribed programs from the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and related ephemera.
Archive comprised of more than 50 programs, imprints, magazines, and other ephemera collected by Aeriwentha "Mae" Faggs Starr (1932-2000). Called "The First Lady of Track," Faggs earned the distinction of being the first US female to participate in three Olympiads (1948, 1952, and 1956). She graduated from Bayside High School located in Queens, NY, and attended Tennessee State University to run under Hall of Fame coach Ed Temple. In 1952, at age 20, Faggs won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the US 4 x 100 meter relay team. She returned to the Olympics in 1956, coming away with a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay with teammates Margaret Matthews, Isabelle Daniels, and Wilma Rudolph, with whom she developed a close friendship. Between 1949 and 1956, Faggs recorded six victories in the 220-meter dash, and in 1954, 1955, and 1956, she won the AAU 200-meter dash, which earned her the designation as an All-American by the organization. In 1976, Faggs was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. For several years, she taught athletics at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, OH, and led the high school girls' track and field team to the Ohio championship in 1989.
Highlights from the collection include: 15+ programs, pamphlets, and guides from the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki collected by Faggs. Some programs include Faggs' handwritten notes recording times and other details about competing track stars. -- 24 x 16 in. double-sided broadside issued by the Atlanta Daily World, headlined, "US Hails Stars Here for Sports Jamboree," Atlanta, GA, 1 February 1957. Several prominent athletes are highlighted, including Faggs, Wilma Rudolph, and Frank Robinson, with what appears to be an autograph written in Robinson's hand above his portrait. -- 2 programs from the Women's National Track and Field Championships from 1954 and 1957. -- 3 programs from the Tennessee A & I University dating from the early 1950s. -- Programs from Wayne High School, an African American high school located in Lockland, OH, dating from the late 1940s-early 1950s. -- Small group of documents related to Fagg's teaching career.
This lot is located in Cincinnati.
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