PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – “He is a pillar to the university like the Cathedral of Learning.”
The words of Pitt great and Olympic champion Roger Kingdom when discussing the life and impact of Herb Douglas. The 1948 Olympic bronze medalist and University of Pittsburgh graduate who was honored with a memorial service at Heinz Memorial Chapel on Wednesday.
During the ceremony several used the term ‘impact’ when describing Douglas. As Pitt Chancellor Pat Gallagher noted-‘he was to all of us, our coach. We can now emulate him by handing the baton to the next teammate.’
It’s that type of influence that made Douglas legendary. Coming from Hazelwood, the future Taylor Allderdice HS graduate would meet Jesse Owens when he was 14-years-old. The four-time gold medalist in the 1936 Olympics put his arm around Douglas and urged him to go to college. He made that a mission.
He won four national championships in the long jump and one in the 100 meters, but also played football at Pitt. Douglas was the first Black player to score a touchdown against Notre Dame. Months after graduating from Pitt, he won a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics in London.
One of America’s first Black corporate executives, Douglas also found success in his business working up to a vice presidency with Moet Hennessy USA, spending 30 years with the company.
Upon his retirement, he helped create the Jesse Owens International Trophy Award and Jesse Owens Global Award for Peace in honor of the man who inspired him (Owens’ granddaughter spoke at Wednesday’s service). He also became a mentor for Kingdom. Three-time Olympic medalist Edwin Moses, who spoke at the Memorial Service, discussed Douglas as a man of ‘integrity, loyalty and trust’.
He would live other places, but his real love was back home. A member of the inaugural class of the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame and Board of Trustee member, Douglas built a friendship with then-Chancellor Mark Nordenberg that profited both men and the university.
“He loved Pitt,” Nordenberg said. “He loved every one of Pitt’s sports. I would take him down regularly to talk to the football team. You can imagine these young players listening to an Olympic medalist and someone who (had a historic TD) scored against Notre Dame and had done all of these other things.”
“He had overcome hurdles they didn’t have to anymore. It made them think, whatever is in my path, I can get through it too.”
Panthers Track and Field Coach Alonzo Webb said he would meet with Douglas every Wednesday and remembered four days before he died going to see him and Douglas wished the team good luck. Webb said he embraced and helped his old team as much as possible.
Douglas was 101-years-old dying just months after dear friend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris. It was said Douglas used his own story to inspire people, putting his energy, time and personal interest to champion others.
“All the people that have been so successful in so many ways saying this was a one-of-a-kind guy,” Nordenberg explained of the talk about Douglas. “I would not be where I am or doing what I do except for Herb. He really cared for people and wanted to bring out the best of people. He would have ambitions for people that often exceeded their own.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. said ‘the quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important’.
Douglas had both.