On This Day In Black History Nov 6 - FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETE TO WIN A MEDAL IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES

On This Day In Black History Nov 6 - FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ATHLETE TO WIN A MEDAL IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES BORN November 6, 1880 - April 11, 1962

Born in Hannibal, Missouri, his family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1884. After his father, James, died in 1888, George Poage, along with his mother and surviving sibling, moved into the home of Mary and Lucian Easton; Lucian was the son of local lumberman Jason Easton, who employed James in his stables.

At La Crosse High School Poage excelled as both a student and an athlete; he was considered the top athlete at the school and, in 1899, was the class salutatorian, becoming the school's first African-American graduate.

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