John Baxter Taylor was the first African American to earn a gold medal, as part of the 1600 meter relay team, in the 1908 Olympics 1. As a student at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1908 with a Veterinarian Medicine degree, he was a member of U of Penn’s 1907 championship International Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) team2. Struck down by a respiratory illness, in December of 1908, only four months after winning the gold medal, Taylor was celebrated by students and community members alike- including The New York Time report accolade of “the world’s greatest negro runner”3.
To learn more about John Baxter Taylor, go to http://ivy50.com/blackHistory/story.aspx?sid=12/27/2006, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/taylor-john-baxter-jr-1882-1908 and https://blackthen.com/track-field-athlete-john-baxter-taylor-jr-first-african-american-olympic-gold-medalist/
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/john-baxter-taylor-biography-45222
2. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/171264-the-forgotten-olympian-the-story-of-john-taylor