Today we’re bout to talk about bicycles, well more specifically bicycling, and even more specifically about Marshall “Major” Walter Biggs Taylor. Taylor was a professional cyclist in the early 1900s who would go on to set world records and would be the first Black American to earn a world championship in any professional sport.
So, Major was born on November 26, 1878, in Louisville. He was the son of Gilbert and Saphronia Taylor. During his early childhood, the family moved from Kentucky to Indiana where his father would find work as a coach driver for this rich white family called “The Southards.” The Southards had a son named Daniel who was around Major’s age and the two became FAST friends. Like, these two lil rugrats did EVERYTHING together. Major would even get access to the same tutoring as his lil white buddy until the Southards picked up and moved to Chicago around Major’s twelfth birthday.
Beyond an education though, the Southards’ biggest gift to Major was his first bicycle. Major took to that bike so damn fast, a year into riding he was already becoming a talented trick rider. In 1891 he was being hired by the local bike shop to perform tricks outside of the establishment to entice new customers. Dude was really getting bike sponsorships WAY before the X-treme sports boom in the early 1990s! In 1893 he was hired by a competing bicycle shop to act as their head trainer. He would teach white folk how to ride, and earn a pretty good wage doing so.
After a little while, Major began competing in local bicycling competitions, but because it was the late 1800s, he faces a BUNCH of racism. Many competitors even refused to participate if they would have to share the track with a Black man. …Well fine, then don’t compete, right? There was one incident where a 15-year-old Major shattered the amateur record for the One Mile Amateur Track and apparently “hooted”…so they banned him from the track permanently…Nice going Amateur Bike Association or whatever it was called…
In 1895 a 17-year-old Major won a major cycling competition, and by won I mean he was the ONLY bicyclist to finish the 75 MILE race. The entire time he was getting boo’d by white spectators and competitors alike…He was too quick for the bullshit though, and by the end, there was no one left to talk crap, because he had already left them in the dust, figuratively and literally. By 1896 at the age of 18 Major was ready to turn pro! He was being called the most formidable racer in America. Taylor bounced out of Indiana to Worcester, MA before finally heading to New York City and follow his biking dreams.
My man started winning left and right, he even caught the eye of good ol’ Teddy Roosevelt who would follow Major throughout his entire career. By the end of Major's career, Taylor had beaten SEVEN world records in cycling. His favorite race was the one-mile, he set a world record of 1:14 that would stand for 28 years! At the 1899 world championships in Montreal, Major would smash all competition and win the Championship for the one mile race, becoming the first Black American to win a world championship in ANY SPORT! He would go on to win many more.
In 1904 Major had had it! Being a professional athlete is hard on the body, so my guy took a little break from 1904-1906. He would come back to the sport, break a few more records, and then finally retire from the sport in 1910 at the age of 32. Major won his final on October 10th, 1909. After a long career Major could finally chill and bask in the glory of an amazing career, he even published an autobiography called: The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World: The Story of a Colored Boy's Indomitable Courage and Success Against Great Odds: An Autobiography.
In 1932 at the age of 53 Major would pass away from complications after suffering a heart attack. His gravestone reads, "World's champion bicycle racer who came up the hard way without hatred in his heart, an honest, courageous, and God-fearing, clean-living gentlemanly athlete. A credit to his race who always gave out his best. Gone but not forgotten."
And gone but not forgotten is right! The idea of a world class Black athlete having to fight just to be allowed to compete is disappointing but in no way surprising. Major’s unwillingness to be told no, and his ability to shine when no one wanted to give him the spotlight is just another example of the tenacious spirit Black folks have always had! It’s inspiring so today I’m ecstatic to say Thank you, Major, Thank you!
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