by Jacob Posner, June 29, 2026, 5:08 a.m. ET
Lou Montgomery, a Brockton High School graduate, became the first Black player on Boston College’s football team in 1937, a time when few Black athletes competed in college sports across the country.
But his name is relatively unknown, according to recently retired Boston College professor Susan Michalczyk. She’s part of a foundation, named after Montgomery, that’s trying to change that.
She said she hopes his story will inspire “these young people who are questioning if they’re good enough to play, or be in school, or be considered part of the community.”
The foundation’s biggest goal is to one day build a statue of Montgomery at Brockton High, Michalczyk said, so that people see it, and become curious about who he was.
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The Foundation came into being about a year ago, according to Michalczyk, thanks in large part to the City of Brockton, former Mayor Robert Sullivan, Brockton Public Schools officials and some of her colleagues from Boston College.
Right now, Michalczyk said the foundation is trying to raise money and get more people involved in their mission. This spring, the organization held a family fun day at Brockton High in honor of Montgomery. They’re holding their first annual gala this coming spring.
In addition to building a statue, the foundation aims to create a scholarship fund, host conversations about mental health among young people and develop educational materials.
‘The Jackie Robinson of Boston College’
After some students approached Michalczyk and asked that she make a documentary about Montgomery, she helped create “Lou Montgomery: A Legacy Restored,” which came out in 2016.
“Lou Montgomery was the Jackie Robinson of Boston College,” Dan Bunch, director of Learning to Learn at Boston College, said during an interview in the documentary.
When Montgomery was on the Boston College team from 1937-1941, he was one of just a few Black athletes in American collegiate sports. At the time, legends like Jackie Robinson, the first professional Black baseball player, and Kenny Washington, the first Black player in the NFL, were playing for the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).Honoring Montgomery Brockton’s Montgomery finally earns his football due at Boston College
‘His whole career was truncated by this’
Michalczyk said all the players on Montgomery’s college team went pro – except him. Part of the reason his career didn’t progress further, according to experts in her documentary, is because he wasn’t allowed to play during many games.
While Montgomery was at Boston College, the school was trying to increase the status of its football program. That meant playing southern schools. With segregation the law of the land in the South, football teams at southern colleges refused to play against Black players.
Before playing colleges like Georgetown, Boston College would sign contracts agreeing to bench Montgomery, according to an interview with Glenn Stout, an author and editor…
Read the full story on The Enterprise website here.