LOUIS, JOE

Joe Louis (May 13, 1914–April 12, 1981), heavyweight champion and one of the most admired prizefighters in history, was born near Lafayette, Alabama, the seventh of eight children of farmer Munn Barrow and Lillie Barrow. He first took up the sport of boxing as a young teenager in Detroit, Michigan, where his divorced mother had moved with him and his siblings. He fought as an amateur for two years, establishing a reputation as an extraordinarily gifted boxer and powerful puncher.

Louis turned professional in 1934. Under the direction of his trainer and good friend Jack "Chappie" Blackburn and his managers John Roxborough and Julian Black, Louis fought many memorable bouts and suffered only three losses over a career that spanned seventeen years. He captured the world heavyweight championship in 1937 against James Braddock, and defended the title a record twenty-five times. In 1938 Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round, avenging a loss to the German heavyweight just two years earlier. In 1941 Louis recorded a thrilling last-round knockout of Billy Conn and six years later earned a controversial decision over Jersey Joe Walcott. Louis retired as champion in 1949, but monetary burdens eventually forced him to return to the ring, where he lost to new champions Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano.

Louis's numerous ring triumphs were of great symbolic importance to the African-American community in particular and American society more generally. Although some African Americans were seemingly troubled by what they viewed as Louis's acquiescence to the white establishment, the large majority of African Americans considered Louis a champion of heroic proportions. In the throes of the Depression, when white citizens were exhibiting racial intolerance and ignoring the needs of the African-American community, Louis became a much-needed example of black achievement and a symbol of possibility. To African Americans caught in the midst of economic crisis, Louis appeared messianic—a great champion who dramatized the black struggle against white aggression and indifference. African Americans gathered at local stores and in neighbor's homes to hear the broadcasts of his fights, vicariously shared in his victories, and honored his ring triumphs with literally hundreds of songs and poems. Richard Wright, Charles Johnson, and other African-American intellectuals wrote of being inspired and filled with hope by Louis's apparent invincibility in the ring. Tellingly, Louis's ring triumphs were often applauded by whites as well. His 1938 victory over Max Schmeling was crucially important to Americans of all races who viewed the German's defeat as a symbolic triumph of American values over Nazi racism and totalitarianism. In large measure, Louis became America's national representative, something no African American, athlete or non-athlete, had ever experienced before. Louis was introduced to American soldiers during World War II as "the first American to K.O. a Nazi."

Unfortunately, like many boxers, Louis's life outside the ring was often filled with disappointment and heartache. Married four times, Louis experienced persistent financial problems as a result of bad investments, poor advice, and lack of marketable skills. At one point, he owed some $1,250,000 in back federal taxes. Once his boxing career was over, Louis attempted to support himself financially and maintain a meaningful existence through a series of jobs and business opportunities. He was for a time a pro wrestler, operated a failed fast-food business, and acted as a front man for boxing promoter James Norris. In 1970, Louis's life seemingly hit rock bottom and he was committed for five months to a psychiatric hospital. He spent

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the last few years of his life as an official greeter at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

See Also: AFRICAN AMERICANS, IMPACT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ON; LEISURE; OWENS, JESSE; RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS; SPORTS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Astor, Gerald. "And a Credit to His Race": The Hard Life and Times of Joseph Louis Barrow, a.k.a. Joe Louis. 1974.

Bak, Richard. Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope. 1996.

Capeci, Jr., Dominic J., and Martha Wilkerson. "Multifarious Hero: Joe Louis, American Society, and Race Relations during World Crisis, 1935–1945." Journal of Sport History 10 (1983): 5–25.

Gilmore, Al-Tony. "The Myth, Legend, and Folklore of Joe Louis: The Impression of Sport on Society." South Atlantic Quarterly 82 (1983): 256–268.

Mead, Chris. Champion: Joe Louis, Black Hero in White America. 1985.

Sammons, Jeffrey T. "Boxing as a Reflection of Society: The Southern Reaction to Joe Louis." Journal of Popular Culture 16 (1983): 23–33.

Sammons, Jeffrey T. Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society. 1988.

David K. Wiggins