"A PIONEER IN THE STUDY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SPORTING EXPERIENCE"

EDWARDS, Harry. The Revolt of the Black Athlete. New York: Free Press, (1969). Octavo, original yellow and red cloth, original dust jacket. $650.

First edition of Edwards' seminal work, affirming "the roots of the revolt of the black athlete spring from the same seed that produced the sit-ins, the freedom rides," with 16 pages of illustrations including the iconic image of Olympic medal-winners Thomas Smith and John Carlos also featured on the original dust jacket.

"On October 7, 1967, a group of African American athletes and Black Power activists, led by Harry Edwards, formed the Olympic Committee for Human Rights… based on the supposition that African American's role in sports was intimately interdependent with the overall struggle for human rights in American society" (Lomax, Sports and the Racial Divide, 55). Edwards, a professor who experienced racism as a black athlete, was "a pioneer in the study of the African American sporting experience. He was the first scholar to write a book about the black protest of the 1968 Olympic Games" in Revolt of the Black Athlete. Considered "the definitive account of the period," Edwards writes: "The roots of the revolt of the black athlete spring from the same seed that produced the sit-ins, the freedom rides" (Journal of Sport History, 29:3, 469). On publication in 1969, the New York Times wrote: "No one who reads Revolt of the Black Athlete can ever again find comfort in the popular notion that the American sports establishment is a citadel of fair play and racial harmony." "First printing" on the copyright page. First issue dust jacket with height of 8-1/4 inches as issued.

A fine copy in bright price-clipped dust jacket.