Tuskegee Institute graduate Nell Jackson was the first black head coach for a U.S. Olympic track and field team. She served as the head coach of the women’s team at the 1956 and 1972 Summer Games. Jackson herself was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team and won two national collegiate titles in 1950. Jackson later became a coach at Tuskegee and was inducted into the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.

 


Encyclopedia of Alabama