Major taylor autobiography books

At the start of the 20th century in the US, track bicycle racing in velodromes was rivaled only by baseball for popularity and by boxing for lucrativeness.

All of the professional sports drew a strict color line, with White and Black athletes in their own leagues, if Blacks could play at all. The traditional narrative is that this line was first crossed in boxing, by Jack Johnson.

However, more than a decade before the Johnson-Jeffries fight in Reno, Major Taylor actually became the first Black professional athlete to win both American and world championship titles.

This autobiography covers Taylor's entire career, including the many struggles he faced due to prejudice from White racers and officials as well as difficulty in finding lodging and dining open to Blacks as he travelled to events, even in California and the northeast.

Taylor contrasts this with the much more favorable treatment he