The mysterious death of a Black football player

INTERVIEWER: Now, if you've listened for any amount of time to this program, you've probably gleaned that I love history. So on this show, we have a series called "Minnesota Now and Then" where we talk about interesting historical events in Minnesota. So today, we're going to take you back to October 5, 1923, when the Iowa State football team was in the Twin Cities to play the Gophers.

It was the first collegiate game for a young Iowa player, Jack Trice. He was the only Black football player on the Iowa team. Now, because of segregation, Jack had to spend the night before the game alone because he was not allowed in the hotel where his white teammates stayed.

And there in his hotel room, he wrote a letter where he said, quoting now, "My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life, the honor of my race, family, and self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will."

But three days later, Jack Trice died. Well, what happened? Dr. Jonathan Gelber is an orthopedist at the Olmstead Medical Center in Rochester. He's the author of a new book called The Idealist, Jack Trice and the Fight for a Forgotten College Football Legacy. Dr. Gelber is on the line. Welcome to the program.

JONATHAN GELBER: Hi. Thanks for having me.

INTERVIEWER: How did you first hear about this story? Who is Jack?

JONATHAN GELBER: So I came across Jack's story while researching a previous book I wrote. So as a sports medicine doctor, I tend to write books and articles about injuries and tragedies in sports.

And while researching my previous book on injuries and tragedies and how they affected sports and society as a whole, I came across the story of Jack, Jack's legacy as a barrier breaker for Iowa State, Jack's untimely death, the letter that you mentioned, and the discovery of his letter 50 years later, which inspired a student-led movement to name the Iowa State football stadium after Jack. And for about 25 years, the students fought to honor Jack.

And finally, Iowa State named their football stadium after Jack Trice. And in the '90s when that happened, it was and it still is the only major college football stadium named for an African-American.

INTERVIEWER: Take us back to October of 1923. Jack's a member of the Iowa football team. His team has played the first game of the season, and now they're in Minneapolis the night before their second game, this one against the Gophs. And Jack Trice is by himself in this separate hotel.

JONATHAN GELBER: Yeah. That night where Jack was by himself, he sat down to write that letter. And as you can tell, Jack felt that there was something greater than himself happening at that time. And Jack's journey up until that point really was a journey for African-Americans living in America at that time.

So Jack's grandparents were slaves. His father was a Buffalo Soldier, and unfortunately, his father died while he was young. And so Jack left this small town in Ohio to live in Cleveland where he was around other members of his family and other African-Americans. And so Jack experienced what it was like to be the only African-American in a whole town versus being one of several but still not many in. Cleveland.

And then he moves to Iowa where he is the only Black athlete. And he had friends who are Jewish. He had friends who are not Black, and he was integrating, as America was at that time. But at the same time, there was a large movement in the 1920s regarding racism, and the Ku Klux Klan had risen to new heights. And St. Paul and the Twin Cities were certainly no stranger to that. In fact, the Ku Klux Klan had candidates for mayor in St. Paul.

And so Jack had arrived to Minnesota in this backdrop of increased racism and tension in the Twin Cities, and Jack was always the focus because not only was he African-American, but he was also a star football player, so there was a lot of focus on Jack. And when he sat down to write this letter, he was talking about, well, these are the thoughts just before the first real college football game of my life.

And what are his thoughts? His thoughts are about the honor of his race, the honor of his family, and the honor of himself. And because of that, everyone is expecting him to do big things.

INTERVIEWER: And then what happened in the game?

JONATHAN GELBER: So Jack was hurt early on in the game. He actually hurt his shoulder, but he didn't come out of the game because at that time, if you came out, you weren't allowed back in until the second half. So Jack was playing through pain very early on. And what happened at some point was Jack was thrown to the ground, and he was trampled.

And at that time, it was unclear if it was racially motivated or just motivated because Jack was a star football player or perhaps, likely, both. And Jack, unfortunately, suffered internal bleeding, and he died a few days later from those injuries. And he had just written that letter, and that letter was actually discovered right before his funeral.

It was in his coat pocket. And so that letter was read to the students of the university. They actually ended classes, and the president spoke at a ceremony for Jack. And they memorialized that letter on a plaque inside the old state gym at Iowa.

INTERVIEWER: So he was trampled. Do you think that this was deliberate? I mean, he dies just days later. What does your medical training say about-- what do you think happened? Do you think he was targeted?

JONATHAN GELBER: Yeah, I mean, football at that time was a lot more physical in terms of less protection, so you didn't have helmets. You didn't have the pads like you do today. So it's hard to say why the motivation for the trampling. It's hard not to look at the fact that he was the only colored person on the field and that there was a rise in racism at the time.

People at the time-- his teammates didn't necessarily think it was racially motivated. But then at that time, a lot of folks just thought if they didn't see racism outright, there was no racism. In fact, the students who knew Jack on campus-- many of them said he was just sort of there, but he was almost a ghost. He was seen, but not necessarily heard.

So we have to take a lot of those processes into account when you're looking at motivation. So while there was no outright motivation where they said, hey, we're going to go get this guy because the color of his skin-- I mean, these are things that were happening, but just weren't spoken about.

INTERVIEWER: So he dies. The letter that he wrote-- I understand he had it in his coat pocket. It was found, made public, and it was reprinted in the Minneapolis Tribune a couple of days after his death. Do you know what the public reaction to it was?

JONATHAN GELBER: So the letter-- I don't know. Publicly, it was actually-- the newspapers carried some of it. I mean, there was actually a pretty wide reporting of the events, which was interesting that. Even, I think, as far as Alaska or Hawaii, there were small articles written about it. I would say the group that had the greatest inspiration from it was the student body of Iowa State.

So while it was reported widely in the newspapers, I think it affected most the students of Iowa State. And they said to themselves that we need to honor him in some way, that someone who sacrificed himself for his college, for his race, for his family, needs to be honored in some way. And they did things like raise money to help his mother pay for the mortgage of her house, but they wanted to memorialize him in some way.

And so the way they were able to memorialize him was to put a plaque of his letter, but I felt that they wanted to do something more. And I think that spirit passed 50 years down the line to the students in the 1970s began the movement to name the football stadium for Jack Trice because I think the students even in the 1920s would have wanted something like that for Jack.

INTERVIEWER: What do you think his legacy is?

JONATHAN GELBER: His legacy is one of sacrifice. It's one of doing greater things. So the reason I name the book The Idealist is because there is a poem that his mother had found solace in, and it's a poem that was written by someone who had lived in their town. She was a poet, and she wrote a letter to the president of Iowa State saying that this was a dark time for her.

Her husband had died. Her son had died. She really only saw sadness in her future. But the thing that gave her solace was this poem, and it was called "The Idealist." And to summarize the poem, it's about a young man who seeks treasure, and people are below him on a mountain. And he goes up to a higher level, and the people wonder what he's doing up there.

And they go up there, and they see he's there. And he has treasure, and they want him to stay. And they question, why are you leaving? Why are you going higher? And he responds to them that he is going to do bigger things. He is going to do greater things. He is going to go higher.

And I think that was the inspiration always for Jack. He was an idealist young man, and he was always looking to do good for his family, for his race, for his team, and so he was always looking to go higher.

INTERVIEWER: I love the fact that you're an orthopedic surgeon, and you're an author. How are the two related?

JONATHAN GELBER: I think a lot of surgeons like to do things that are beyond just the physical. We have a lot of surgeons who are artists, other surgeons who write books. So you work with your hands a lot, but it's also nice to find a more artistic use of your abilities and your brain as well.

INTERVIEWER: Because you've written, I believe-- if I'm not mistaken-- books about Tiger Woods' back, Tommy John's elbow, injuries, other tragedies that have transformed careers in sports. It was a good book.

JONATHAN GELBER: Yeah, I just enjoy telling stories. And that book that you mentioned-- one of the things that really intrigued me was that we have these injuries, and we think we know how the story ends. But actually, things have happened in society based on these injuries, and so the stories don't always end where we think they do. And I think Jack is a perfect example of that.

His story could have ended with his death in 1923, and yet, the students made a movement from the '70s to the '90s to get the stadium named for him. And yet, here we are even 100 years after Jack Trice, and we're still learning about his story and still inspiring people to tell his story and to shine the spotlight on stories that have not been told before.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, I love that. Doctor, thank you so much.

JONATHAN GELBER: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

INTERVIEWER: Dr. Jonathan Gelber is an orthopedic surgeon. He's at the Olmstead Medical Center in southeastern Minnesota. He's the author of The Idealist, Jack Trice and the Fight for a Forgotten College Football Legacy.