publicized race at the World’s Fair in Flush- ing Meadow Park in Queens, N.Y. On a chilly day in April 1939, Brown won the Boston Marathon again. In doing so, he eclipsed the race record by more than two minutes. Ac- cording to several sources, he downed several hot dogs and several bottles of soda pop just prior to the race. But his hopes for an Olympic rematch in
Helsinki were crushed by the world war. Qual- ifying for the 1940 Olympic team and favored to win the marathon, Brown saw his plans came to a sudden end when Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. No Olympic games were held again until 1948, when Brown, then 36, was well past his prime. Brown’s Boston Marathon running days
came to an end in 1946. Making a comeback in that race, he fi nished a surprising 12th. He returned to his work as a mason and catch- ing and selling fi sh, although he continued to run in challenge races. Until the age of 59, this remarkable athlete also put on exhibi- tions, sometimes entertaining the crowds by running backwards. In fi nancial trouble for much of his later life, like Longboat before
him, he was forced to sell his prized medals and trophies to pay for groceries as well as for his medical bills. But in 1973, he was inducted into both the RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame and the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. Two years later, Brown was killed outside of a bar in Westerly apparently after being hit by a van. The memory of the ‘”King of the Boston Streets” is kept alive today in the “Annual Tarzan Brown 5.5 Mile Mystic River Run” that takes place in southeastern Con- necticut.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
Festivities leading up to the running of the 120th Boston Marathon in 2016 included a major conference “Native American Running: Culture, Health, Sport.” It was sponsored by Harvard University, in cooperation with its Peabody Museum, its American Indian Stud- ies Program and Radcliffe College as well as the Boston Athletic Association, the sponsor of the Boston Marathon. The conference also commemorated the 80th
anniversary of the
win by Ellison Myers “Tarzan” Brown, Sr. in the 1936 race. The conference explored the
history and traditional roles of American In- dian running as well as its health benefi ts to youths and adults alike. American Indians from all over North
America participated, including descendants of the great Native marathoners. Among the honored attendees and speakers was Billy Mills, a Lakota and winner of the 10,000-me- ter race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. Several conferees of American Indian descent ran in the 2016 Boston Marathon to honor their legendary ancestors and tribal members. These included William Win- nie, honoring his great grandfather Tom Longboat, Dale Lolar, a Penobscot honoring Andrew Sockalexis, and Mikki Wosencroft, a Narragansett honoring “Tarzan” Brown. The fans of this great sports event were now reminded that the fi rst residents of the Northeast had not disappeared, but were still visible, even on the streets of Boston. X
Laurence Hauptman, a frequent contributor to American Indian magazine, is SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History. Heriberto Dixon is SUNY Lecturer Emeritus of Business and History.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 47
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