Jesse Owens: Never Give Up!

Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama. His father was a sharecropper and his grandfather had been a slave.

Life was not easy for Jesse and his family, but Jesse Owens never gave up.

To help his family earn money Jesse began working in the fields. At age seven he picked 100 pounds of cotton a day.

No one knew it, but this hard working boy would grow up to be one of the world’s greatest athletes.

At age nine Jesse and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

It was here that Jesse discovered his athletic talent. He soon began racing with his school’s track and field team.