A 300-meter indoor track planned for Pitt’s future Victory Heights facility will be named for Herb P. Douglas Jr. — Olympic track star, Black trailblazer and one of the Panthers’ greatest athletes of all time.
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher announced the honor during a 100th birthday celebration for Douglas at the Senator John Heinz History Center on March 12.
“There’s no better way for us to express our admiration than to emulate what you have always done, which is to hand the baton to those who follow in your footsteps, dream big and achieve great things,” Gallagher said.
“You better pass it down and they will come to your aid and support later in life,” said Douglas (EDUC ’48, ’50G). “Every one of these people here, I don’t know them personally, but they’re here because I’m 100 years old. That’s the main thing. It’s not that I won an Olympic medal or anything like that. They’re here from the heart.”
Born and raised in Hazelwood, a neighborhood south of the University’s Pittsburgh campus, Douglas has long said that a meeting with Jesse Owens set him on his path of athletic and professional achievement.
“It still amazes me that Herb had that singular experience at age 14 of meeting Jesse Owens in Pittsburgh — not only his personal hero but one of the greatest figures of the 20th century,” said Gallagher. “It sounds like a scene scripted in Hollywood more than Hazelwood. But in Pittsburgh, we prefer the stories that come out of Hazelwood, and Herb’s is one of the best.”
As a youth, Douglas won Pittsburgh city-wide and Pennsylvania state championships while juggling his education and supporting his family’s auto business.