Speaking Volumes | Learn about Olympics legend Wilma Rudolph at Manatee County library

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born in Saint Bethlehem, Tenn., on June 23, 1940. Afflicted with polio and scarlet fever at a young age, Wilma and her family were told by doctors she would never walk again, and she spent most of her childhood in bed. Her left leg became paralyzed, requiring the use of a metal leg brace. With hands-on care and support from her parents and 21 siblings, Wilma was determined to prove those doctors wrong.

Between her own and her mother’s determined spirit, that perseverance helped carry her to become a star basketball player and sprinter at her high school in Clarksville, Tenn. But it was her speed that made her stand out from the other high school athletes. At just 16, Wilma qualified for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. She would win the bronze medal in the 4 x 100 relay. Just four years later, at the Rome Summer Olympics, Wilma took home three gold medals for 100- and 200- meter dash races, as well as the 4 x 100-meter relay race. She even set a new world record for the relay: 44.4 seconds in a semi-final race. This performance in Rome established her as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. The first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at the same Olympics game, she secured the title of “The Tornado: The Fastest Woman in the World.”

After returning home to Clarksville, on Oct. 4, 1960, Wilma was greeted with a parade titled “Welcome Wilma Day!” She insisted that she would only attend if it was fully integrated. So it was. Over 1,100 local fans lined the streets, cheering her victories in the parade and following banquet.

Retiring relatively early from track and field, Wilma decided to finish her education at Tennessee State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1963. She worked as a classroom teacher, continuing her involvement in sports as a high school track coach. Creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a non-profit community-based amateur sports program, Rudolph helped develop girls’ track-and-field teams. Her program and life accomplishments later inspired another famous track-and-field star: Florence Griffith Joyner.

In 1974, Wilma was named to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, the International Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983. And in 1990, Wilma became the first woman to receive the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Silver Anniversary Award. Tennessee State University later named their indoor track field and dormitory after Wilma in her honor. On November 12, 1994, Wilma Rudolph died of brain and throat cancer at the age of 54 in Nashville.

Learn more about Wilma Rudolph with the book “(Re)presenting Wilma Rudolph,” written by Rita Liberti and Maureen M. Smith, available through our Hoopla digital collection. Children can learn more about Rudolph, too, with books like “The Quickest Kid in Clarksville” by Pat Miller.

Your library is online: www.mymanatee.org/library. Free face masks are available at all library locations. Manatee Libraries are fine free! Please note that lost/damaged fees still apply.

Speaking Volumes is written by staff members at the Manatee County Public Library System. Brooke Smith is an information services librarian.