Jessie Owens' Nazi-Busting Medal to be Sold in Laguna Niguel

A gold medal Jesse Owens won at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics will be available in an online auction conducted by a Laguna Niguel auction house beginning Nov. 20.

Owens famous embarrassed Adolf Hitler by winning four gold medals after Nazis sought to ban black and Jewish athletes that year.

Owens gave the medal to a friend, entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, as thanks for helping Owens find work in the entertainment industry, according to SCP auctions owner David Kohler. The medal is being sold by the estate of Robinson's late widow, Elaine Plaines-Robinson.

“We were very excited to handle a significant artifact as something like this,” Kohler said. “It's bigger than sports memorabilia. It's history.”

It is not known what event this gold medal represents. Owens, who was black, won golds in the 100 and 200 meters, long jump and 400 meter relay at the Berlin Olympics, countering Hitler's theory of Aryan racial superiority.

To Hitler's racist criticisms, Owens countered:

"Since we are all Americans, Negroes should have a chance in every sport. Certainly the showing of Negroes in track events shows that if they have half a chance, they produce the goods.”

Kohler said the auction firm has mostly “had very positive feedback” about auctioning the medal.

“We hope that when this sells that the new owners will loan or donate it to a museum like the Smithsonian for everyone to see this national treasure,” Kohler said.

Auctioneers are expecting the medal “could bring a million dollars, and we think that's a reasonable estimate based on what other things have sold for,” Kohler said. “But it's an auction so we'll see.”

Other items in the auction that will run through Dec. 7 on SCPAuctions.com include a robe, gloves and trunks worn by Muhammad Ali in his 1976 defense of the world heavyweight championship against Jimmy Young, and a bat Jackie Robinson used in the 1955 World Series.

“That's a nice brother to (Owens') medal,” Kohler said of the bat. “For about 10 years it was on loan to the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

--City News Service