Following his Path

Imagine being given a gift You think the gift one thing but it turns out to be something unexpected. When I think of Lou Montgomery I think of a wonderful gift he was given being able to go to fantastic school Boston College. Now the school has increased. It’s demand it’s notability it’s practices. But […]

“The Enduring Legacy of Lou Montgomery” By Matthew K. CampbellCoordinator of Recreation and Extracurricular ActivitiesCommunity Schools of BrocktonBrockton Public Schools On the national level any discussion of race and sports deservedly centers around luminous figures like Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson. Their struggles and triumphs have spurred documentaries, feature films, and in Robinson’s case, a […]

Professor Emeritus at University of California Berkeley

Race, Sports, & Politics: Confronting Injustice in the History of Boston Session 2: Commemorating Boston’s Black AthletesPanelist: David Joyner on behalf of Brother, Russ Joyner.  Reflections shared by Russ’s teammate, Doug Guyer with annual winners of BC Football’s Russ Joyner Award for most outstanding defensive lineman. From: Doug GuyerDate: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 3:57 PMSubject: The […]

Breaking Barriers: A Journey of Resilience and Leadership – Dr. Renée Heywood Reflecting on the Lou Montgomery documentary, I am reminded of the profound significance of being “the first.” My own journey mirrors this theme. When I appeared in the documentary, I was celebrating my role as the first Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Diversity, and […]

I have had the privilege of getting to know some amazing Black athletes through my research and teaching over the last several years. What I have learned about their journeys through the college sports industry is often not reflected in the mainstream media, which tends to focus as much on academic struggles as athletic achievements. The Black football and women’s basketball alumni I interviewed not only achieved at high levels academically and athletically, but they did so while facing numerous hurdles as Black athletes at predominantly White schools (PWIs), often without the support and mentorship they deserved. The Division I…

In my 43 years of working at The Sports Museum, one of the most heartbreaking images I’ve come across is this grainy news photo of Boston College star football player Lou Montgomery listening to the 1941 Sugar Bowl, a game in which he should have been a notable participant. To my knowledge as well as that of many sports historians, officials at Boston College acceded to the single most egregious example of racial exclusion of the pre WWII era of intercollegiate sports. This occurred when they agreed to sit Montgomery, a former Brockton High star and Boston College’s first African-American…

BC Athletics Remembers Russ Joyner On New Year’s Day, the Boston College Athletic community lost a cherished member in former football captain Russ Joyner ’82. Former sports information director Reid Oslin `68 pays tribute to the BC standout. When Boston College played Auburn in the 1982 Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, it marked the first time […]

Charlotte has been living and working in Juneau, Alaska for the last few years. She has organized this event to remember and honor Lou Montgomery, and bring together members of the community near Juneau, to share stories that reflect their own experiences of character, compassion, and community resilience.                  […]

Charles Thomas and Lou Montgomery were contemporaries.  Thomas, a halfback for Boston University, directly competed against Montgomery during the late 1930s and early 1940s when the Terriers battled the Eagles.  Both men’s lives read like history books, ones filled with stories not often taught in school. Thomas played football, basketball, and baseball at a time when opportunities for African American athletes narrowed due to racial segregation and discrimination.  But his integrity, both on and off the field, shattered these restrictions and his courage assured future generations a measure of equality in sports. Born in Georgia, Thomas eventually joined the Great…

My journey has followed a path remarkably similar to Lou Montgomery’s. Like Lou, I began breaking barriers through football, using the game as a doorway into spaces that weren’t always built with people who look like me in mind. When I arrived at Boston College, I learned quickly what it meant to carry the weight […]

Now is the time! When I think about Lou Montgomery and his pioneering efforts, the one thing that stands out is his endurance of high-level humility while going through an undoubtedly torturous process of evolution – one that he had accelerated with adeptness and courage. As our world evolves, we are going to need to […]