V9 N. 43 Harrison Dillard One of the Truly Great Ones R.I.P.

Harrison Dillard  1923-2019

November 17, 2019
Harrison 'Bones' Dillard passed away last week in Cleveland, his home town. Let me start from memory.  Harrison Dillard, a World War II veteran served with an African American military unit the Buffalo Soldiers in Europe during the war.  He stayed in the army for awhile and shortly after the war, he  began competing in international competitions between the Allied Powers who were occupying Germany.  

He was born in 1923 in Cleveland and as a 13 years old youngster he watched Jesse Owens' homecoming parade in 1936 after his return from the Berlin Olympics.  Owens won four Olympic Golds, and so would Dillard.  Both men went to the same high school, Cleveland East Tech  and had the same coach Ivan Greene.  After the war, Dillard would have followed Owens to Ohio State U., but he felt it was too far from home and he might be homesick.  

Statue on the Baldwin Wallace Campus

We have reported in the past about some of his achievents in a meet in Frankfort FRG.  Eventually he found his way back home and enrolled in Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio where he truly came into his own as a 120 yard high hurdler.  By 1948, he was the favorite in the US to be the top hurdler in his specialty, but as often happens in that event, the favorite stumbles, hits a hurdle and watches the race from the ground or staggering to the finish line.  And then he goes home and waits 'til next year.  This didn't happen to Mr. Dillard because he had an ace in the hole, the 100 meters which he went on to qualify for enabling him to travel to London as a sprinter.  In the Olympic 100 meter finals, Harrison Dillard upset the favored Barney Ewell to take the gold medal, then later ran on the 4x100 meter relay and brought honor to himeslf and his country with another first place.

By the next Olympics in the the Finnish capitol of Helsinki, Harrison Dillard cleared all the hurdles and set the record straight that he was the best 110 meter high hurdler in the world.

1952 Olympic Trials in L.A. Coliseum
Jack Davis and Harrison Dillard
Thanks to Pete Brown for this photo

One of my regrets since starting this blog is not trying to get an interview with Harrison Dillard.  It was just a few years ago I was in the Cleveland area and spoke to his daughter, but for some reason I decided not to disturb Mr. Dillard with a bunch of questions.  Around that time I found the following article about him, written perhaps by someone who didn't know a lot about track and field but who could interview him to capture the  more personal side.    George Brose

Here is something I had never heard about Harrison Dillard.
He was the 110 HH champion in the 1953 Maccabiah Games. Source is Wikipedia.  I will try to corroborate this from another source.   GB
Answ.  I found a 1957 issue of Israel Digest recounting the prveious Maccabiah Games of 1953 saying that Dillard and Perry O'Brien both competed in exhibition races at those games.  GB

From Grace Butcher (pioneer of women's distance running and Cleveland area native.)

George, here is my Harrison Dillard story.

Starting track at 15 in 1949 as a hurdler (as you know, no long runs till our crusade in the late 50's), of course I knew about Harrison Dillard. His failure to make the team as a hurdler in '48 was such a shock but his 100 gold such a joy, then 4 yrs. later....

So when the time came in 1951 to choose a college,  I chose Baldwin Wallace because if I went there, I could hurdle the same hurdles that Harrison Dillard  had hurdled! What better reason? Plus the National Jr. Olympic Championship had been at that track in 1950, so I'd already run on the same track he'd run on, and he was the starter for that meet. I ran off to get married during the first quarter--I was 17, knew everything, no reason to go to college.  (Started again in 1962 at age 28, older and wiser, at near by Hiram College, marriage and two children later.)

Years after that, at a 5k road race in Cleveland, I was lined up for the start when the startling announcement came that Harrison Dillard was the starter! Oh my gosh! I hadn't known that. The gun went off, and my only thought during most of that race was his name running through my head in rhythm with my steps: "Harrison Dillard! Harrison Dillard!" I even said it out loud.  And after the race, amazingly, I saw him sitting by himself as we waited for the results, so I went over to him, sat down, and told him why I'd gone to BW. It was a lovely conversation. He signed my number. He emanated niceness, gentleness. I have tears in my eyes as I recall that. What a gift to the world he was. Grace

Bill Schnier wrote:

Thanks for your article about Harrison "Bones" Dillard.  He was one of the most dominating T&F men in US history and also one of the most inspirational after his fall in the 1948 Olympic Trials.  Stories about him were exchanged at track meets in the Ohio Athletic Conference when I ran for Capital in 1965-66 and he had run for the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets about two decades before.  He was certainly a pride to that small school in Berea, Ohio as well as to our entire conference and state. 

   It is remarkable that Jesse Owens, David Albritton, Harrison Dillard, and so many others all went to Cleveland East Tech High School.  I have always wondered which Ohio high school would have won a mythical meet of all schools, past or present, when their top marks were reported.  In other words, who has the best school records?  My best guesses would be Cleveland East Tech, Cleveland Glenville, Lancaster, Dayton Dunbar, and Dayton Roosevelt.  All school records would have to be converted to the current meters including the 100, but it would be quite an examination of history and one well worth examining. 

Richard Trace wrote:  "When I was a student at Miami,

BW came for a meet and Harrison Dillard showed us how to do it. 

Tribute to Harrison Dillard in Cleveland Seniors Magazine

By Debbie Hanson

Here is how Sportsreference.com describes Harrison Dillard's career.

"Bones" Dillard caused a major Olympic upset when he won the 100 m in 1948. He went to the 1948 AAU with an unprecedented streak of 82 consecutive hurdle victories, but was surprisingly beaten by [Bill Porter]. A week later, at the Final Trials, Porter won again and Dillard failed to finish. But he made the Olympic team by placing third in the 100 m and then took the Olympic title. Four years later he made no mistakes, winning the hurdles at Helsinki, and winning the gold on the sprint relay team for a second time. Originally inspired by the victory parade in his native Cleveland for [Jesse Owens] after the 1936 Olympics, Dillard developed into one of the most consistent hurdlers the world has ever seen. Owens encouraged Dillard to take up hurdling and later gave him the spikes he had worn in Berlin. Dillard went on to win 14 AAU titles and six NCAA championships, as well as setting world records in both the high and low hurdles.

Dillard was a member of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, which were African-American troops who fought valiantly in the Italian campaign from 1943-45 during World War II. He later was in charge of communications for the Cleveland Indians for 10 years. He also had a television and radio show and was responsible for the city's educational department spending

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.50 (1948); 110H – 13.6y (1948).

1948  100 meters

Winning the 100 meters in London

The fastest sprinters in the world in 1948 were felt to be [Mel Patton] of the USA and [Lloyd LaBeach] of Panama, who became his nation’s first Olympic athlete ever in London. They had raced several times in 1947 and early 1948, basically splitting the races, as there was little to choose between them. Another top sprinter was [Barney Ewell], but he had been at his best during the war years and was felt to be slightly past his prime. One athlete who would not compete in London was Hal Davis, who would have been favored in either 1940 or 1944 if the Olympics had not been lost to the war. An unusual thing happened at the US Olympic Trials. The heavy favorite in the high hurdles was [Harrison Dillard], who had not lost a hurdle race in several years, but he hit a hurdle in the final of the Trials and did not finish. Fortunately for him, he had also entered the 100 metres and made the team in that event behind Patton and Ewell. In the Olympic final, Patton got off to a disastrous start and was not a factor. Dillard led from start to finish with Ewell closing quickly to get the silver medal, LaBeach in third.

1948 4 x 100 meters

The US team was originally to have had Ed Conwell but he had to withdraw with asthma, and was replaced by [Lorenzo Wright], who had medaled in the long jump. The US won the final quite comfortably, but were initially disqualified for a faulty exchange between [Barney Ewell] and Wright. On reviewing film of the race, it could be seen that the exchange had occurred within the legal zone, and the DQ was reversed, giving the United States the gold medal. However, the final decision did not become official for three days.   

Dillard ran the third leg and Mel Patton anchored.

 

1952  110 meters high hurdles

Action in First Heat in Helsinki

The world record holder was Dick Attlesey (USA), but he hurt his foot in the heats of the US Olympic Trials, and did not make the team. But led by Dillard, the Americans again swept the medals, as they had in 1948. The finish was close between Dillard and [Jack Davis], Davis having been slowed by a poor start, likely due to being charged with a false start. Art Barnard was the third place finisher for the Americans.

1952  4 x 100 meters

Dillard, Remigino, Stanfield, and Smith after the 4x100 victory

Though the US had the fastest sprinters, the USSR team had won the 1950 European Championships and were known for teamwork and exact changeovers. In the final, the Soviets started out in the lead, led by [Boris Tokarev], and they maintained that until 100 metre champion [Lindy Remigino] caught them on the final turn. [Andy Stanfield] received the baton about equal with [Vladimir Sukharev] but ran away from him to win by two metres.

Dean Smith is the sole survivor of that 4x100 team.  We are planning a story about Dean in the near future.  ed. 

Dillard and Ewell Steal the Show in Frankfort Aug 22 1948 by Ray Musleh

Harrison Dillard and Jesse Owens with their high school coach Ivan Greene 1950

They Don't Build Hurdles or Hurdlers Like This Anymore