Moments of Impact

In the first half of the twentieth century, Jack Trice, Ozzie Simmons, and Johnny Bright played college football for three Iowa institutions: Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and Drake University, respectively. At a time when the overwhelming majority of their opponents and teammates were white, the three men, all Black, sustained serious injuries on the gridiron due to foul play, either because of their talents, their race, or, most likely, an ugly combination of the two. Moments of Impact tells their stories and examines how the local communities of which they were once a part have forgotten and remembered those assaults over time. Of particular interest are the ways those memories have been expressed in a number of commemorations, including a stadium name, a trophy, and the dedication of a football field. Jaime Schultz focuses on the historical and racial circumstances of the careers of Trice, Simmons, and Bright as well as the processes and politics of cultural memory. Schultz develops the concept of “racialized memory”—a communal form of remembering imbued with racial significance—to suggest that the racial politics of contemporary America have generated a need to redress historical wrongs, congratulate Americans on the ostensible racial progress they have made, and divert attention from the unrelenting persistence of structural and ideological racism.  

"Moments of Impact is an excellent book that American cultural, sport, and public historians should be aware of."—Matt Follett, Sport in American History, "Well written and well researched, this important and readable book offers much to ponder."—S. K. Fields, CHOICE, “An important contribution to the field, and should be used by the rest of us as a model for socially engaged and theoretically sophisticated historical analysis.”—Malcolm Maclean, Sport in History, "Moments of Impact provides important historical, sporting reflections on racialized memory, highlighting the cultural significance of collective remembrance and the harms caused by allowing people to forget."—Daniel Burdsey, Ethnic and Racial Studies, “This is an excellent book.”—Stephen G. Wieting, Sport in Society

Jaime Schultz is an associate professor of kinesiology in the History and Philosophy of Sport program at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of Qualifying Times: Points of Change in U.S. Women’s Sport.