



When will Springfield honor Howard Drew?


The extraordinary Howard P. Drew died Feb. 19, 1957, and I'm writing to help keep his memory alive during Black History Month.

Despite a front page story in the Sunday Republican on March 20, 2011, about the life of Howard Drew, despite a follow-up editorial entitled "World's fastest man deserves city tribute," despite a story during his time declaring Drew the man who "helped to make Springfield famous," and despite the fact he still has direct descendants living in the city, Howard Drew remains unknown and forgotten by the people and politicians of his city.




Four years later, his opportunity to compete in the 1916 Olympics were dashed when they were canceled due to World War I. He tried to make the 1920 team. Charles Paddock the 100m gold medalist of the 1920 Olympics called Drew "the smoothest piece of running machinery the world has ever seen."

Drew attended USC on a scholarship, and during and after his college years, set or broke almost every sprint World Record from 40 to 220 yards. In 1918 Drew is referenced in Popular Science Magazine with "the greatest speed attained by any man," with a 9 3/5 second 100 yard dash from March 28, 1914. Some of his records weren't broken until 1928.

Drew took a public stand against racism. As a youth he refused to run at Boston Athletic Association track meets because they posted a notice that "no Negro would ever represent the association in any way." Drew refused to act as an attraction for them under the circumstances and publicly stated so.

Newspaper stories of his world records always reference him as a" "colored athlete" or "Negro sprinter." Howard Drew graced the cover of one of the earliest editions of the NAACP's "The Crisis" magazine – the special "Education Number."

Howard P. Drew is a role model for today's youth. He persevered as a world-class sprinter even though fate kept Olympic gold out of his reach. He dropped out of high school but returned to finish school and went to college and grad school on a scholarship. He was injured in 1916 resulting in being paralyzed on this left side. Everyone said he'd never run again but he recovered and continued to sprint with a slight bend. He insisted on being "treated like a man" during an era of pervasive racism.

When his career in track was over, he continued to set his sights high as a track official, a lawyer, a soldier in World War I and later as the first African-American judge in Connecticut. It's a shame that he's been practically forgotten. There is so much more to the amazing life of Howard P. Drew. Visit

Larry Libow, of Springfield, is former president of the Massachusetts Senior Games and founder of Mass Velocity, a master's running club.