by Grace Kostrzebski
Breaking records and racing to the finish line despite many challenges, Major Taylor became the first African American athlete to have global fame – for his skill in cycling! Born in 1878 to a Civil War veteran and named Marshall Walter Taylor, his talent for cycling became obvious when he was still young. Working hard to perfect this talent at age thirteen, Taylor became an expert trick rider. He was soon hired at a local bike shop to perform bicycle stunts in a military uniform – earning his nickname “Major” that would follow him for life. His talent was soon recognized by the owner of an Indiana racing bicycle company. With his encouragement and coaching, Taylor committed to becoming a professional racer.
As a young teenager, Taylor broke records and dominated every cycling circuit where he raced. He set multiple world records and was the first African American to become the world champion in cycling. Racing in the United States, Europe, and Australia, Taylor became a well-known athlete with a global level of fame. Taylor was a global sports superstar, yet racial segregation in the United States followed him for his entire career. In France, he was celebrated, but in the American South he was unable to race alongside white athletes. Some athletes simply refused to race against him; others threatened, insulted, and physically assaulted him. White athletes and race officials who did not punish this behavior worked together to keep Taylor from winning. Nevertheless, Taylor persevered. He continued to win races, break records, and establish himself as one of history’s earliest athlete celebrities and a trailblazer for all African American athletes to come.
Two moments from 1907 – more than a century ago – connect Major Taylor to contemporary issues about race, sports, and American society. A series of photographs taken in France show Major Taylor with his bicycle at a velodrome. These photographs are striking because they show Major Taylor as a top athlete, posed to compete, and confident in his abilities. He looks directly into the camera in one photograph, while another shows him at the starting line –ready to compete with a white athlete. These striking images can be contrasted to a widely circulated news report from that same year which described how Major Taylor was asked to leave a Paris hotel because visiting American tourists did not want to stay in the same building as an African American. Major Taylor gracefully agreed to move to “avoid a recurrence of any such unpleasant incidents,” according to the quote that appeared most frequently in newspapers. The Afro-American, one of the leading Black newspapers, included a longer quote from Major Taylor that situated this insult in the larger context of racial oppression: “In America, of course, I know that to expect, and am always prepared for insults because of my color, which…is a circumstance over which I had no control, and for which I am hardly to be held responsible. I did not think that Americans would bring their racial prejudices to Europe…I think it is grossly unfair that any party of American tourists should dictate to the landlord of a French hotel who should and who should not stay in the same houses as themselves…In America, I’ve had to put up with a good deal of this sort of thing. In the south I have been refused admittance to hotels and more than once had to sleep in a stable. But in France I thought it would be different.” (June 1, 1907)
This tension between the incredible achievements of an athlete and the experiences of living in a racist society continued to shape Major Taylor’s life after he returned from Paris. Taylor retired from racing when he was thirty-two-years-old. He cited continued racial discrimination and physical exhaustion as reasons for his early retirement. Taylor is honored by various memorials and cycling clubs in his name. He has also been inducted by multiple halls of fame for cycling posthumously. An icon of early cycling history – Taylor was someone who persisted against all odds and achieved greatness. To learn more about this champion cyclist and his place in history, view the resources posted by the Major Taylor Association as well as numerous articles, films, and books about his life, including The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World: The Autobiography of Marshall W. “Major” Taylor.
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