Jesse Owens to Revisit Germany

May 3, 1964 - Jesse Owens, the Negro athlete who won four Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, will revisit Germany next month to make a television documentary on his early triumph.

Twenty-eight years ago, Mr. Owens set a new world record of 26 feet 8¼ inches for the running broad jump.

“I was in Berlin when the racial, religious, and political situation was just beginning to boil,” he said today.

Bud Greenspan, the producer, said: “We’ll show Jesse at the stadium — even have him visiting Hitler’s box. Then, we’ll also use newsreel clips from the 1936 Olympics. Jesse, as narrator, will try to put the incident — and his career — in focus.”

Hitler brusquely refused to congratulate Mr. Owens after his triumphs in the events.

When Owens returned to the United States, he was greeted in New York City by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and given a ticker-tape parade. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, did not invite Owens to the White House following his triumph.

When the Democrats bid for his support, Owens rejected those overtures. A staunch Republican, he endorsed Alf Landon, Roosevelt’s Republican opponent in the 1936 Presidential race.

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