African American Race Car Driver, 1920s

African American Race Car Driver, 1920s
In the 1920s, a group of black sportsmen created the nation's single largest sporting event ever held by and for African Americans: the Gold and Glory Sweepstakes, a series of 100-mile auto racing events held through the U.S. from 1924-1936.

On August 2, 1924, an estimated 12,000 spectators crowded into the grandstand at the Indiana State Fairgrounds dirt track to celebrate the single largest sporting event ever held for African Americans. There they witnessed a 100-mile spectacle that attracted newspapers and newsreel agencies from all over the country.