Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Abbott, Cleve
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Cleveland Leigh Abbott was born in 1894 in Yankton, South Dakota, and graduated from South Dakota State University in 1916. During his time at SDSU, he became the school's first African American varsity athlete, earning a total of 14 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He also served as the captain of the basketball team while completing a degree in dairy science.
After serving as a First Lieutenant in the 366th Infantry Regiment during World War I, Abbott joined the staff at Tuskegee Institute. In 1923, he was appointed as the head football coach and athletic director, positions he held for 32 years. His football teams recorded 203 wins, 96 losses, and 28 ties, winning 12 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and six historically Black college national championships.
In 1937, Abbott established the women’s track and field program at Tuskegee. Under his leadership, the team won 14 national outdoor titles. He also coached several individual champions, including Alice Coachman, who became the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in 1948. In 1946, Abbott was appointed as the first African American member of the U.S. Olympic Committee. He died in 1955 and has since been inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.