Black History Moments In Cycling
VeloNews covers Bahati Foundation as we present Black History highlights of Black Cycling History stories all month
Iman Bahati, Director of Communication for the 10-year-old Bahati Foundation, rolled out stories on social media throughout Black History Month this year that center on black in cycling. "Finding those stories, she found, was a challenge in itself, with Black History Month being here, I thought it would be impactful to highlight Black Americans or even British people who have contributed to the sport of cycling,” she said. “It was like finding a needle in a haystack. If you were to Google how to celebrate Black History Month now, you’d get millions of results. But in that list of results, none of them talk about cycling. In newer results, you will get Justin [Williams], Ayesha [McGowan], etc, because they are in the news right now. And obviously, you can find information on Major Taylor.”
The New York Public Library recently released thousands of images from its archives into the public domain, including quite a few from cycling’s early American heyday. Marshall “Major” Taylor in 1898 at at 19. Taylor was a star of the blossoming six-day race scene at Madison Square Garden and a world record holder in the 1/4-mile and 2-mile distances by the time this photo was taken. In 1899, he won the 1-mile track championship and set seven more world records across distances from .25 miles to 2 miles. His 1-mile record was 1:41, which stood for 28 years. Photo: George H. Van Norman.