EDWARD ORVAL GOURDIN
1897 – 1966
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN OF MANY FIRSTS
Edward Orval Gourdin was born in Jacksonville, Florida on August 10, 1897. In 1916, Edward was class valedictorian at the Stanton High School established in 1868 after the Civil War for African Americans in Florida.
The family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to place Edward in the Cambridge & Latin High School.
Edward entered Harvard College in 1918. Ned as his classmates called him became the NCAA long jump champion in 1920 by setting the record of 24′ 6″ i. e. a First. On July 23, 1921, Edward set the World Record in the long jump of 25′ 3″ in a dual meet held in Harvard Stadium between Harvard-Yale-Oxford-Cambridge. He became the first man in the world to long jump over 25′. His world record remains the oldest track & field record at Harvard University.
Edward Orval Gourdin was the National Pentathlon Champion in 1921 & 1922.
Not having trained for several years, after finishing his final Harvard Law School examinations, Edward qualified for the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Ned finished second with a leap of 23′ 8″, second to the winner, and the First African American to win an individual gold medal, William DeHart Hubbard, who leaped 24′ 6″.
While at Harvard Law School and in the early years of establishing his law practice, Edward worked as a postal clerk, a position he held until 1927. In 1936, Edward secured a position in the U.S. Attorney Office for Massachusetts. He became Chief of the Civil Division – a First.
During World War II Edward Colonel Edward Orval Gourdin became the Commanding Officer of the 372nd Infantry Regiment.
Members of the 272nd Field Artillery Battalion, Massachusetts National Guard, the last segregated unit of the U.S. Army, who served with the 372nd Infantry Regiment were activated for Federal Service during the Korean War. Edward Orval Gourdin became their Commanding Officer.
Edward Orval Gourdin became the First African American Brigadier General in the State of Massachusetts.
In 1952 Edward was appointed special justice in the Roxbury District, becoming the third African American to serve on the state bench. In 1958 Governor Furcola appointed Edward to become the first African American appointed to the Superior Court of Massachusetts.
In 1965, the National Olympics Athletes Association elected Edward as its first African American President. He also remained an active member of the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and many other civic and community organizations.
In 1974, a Colonel Edward O. Gourdin Post 5298 was established in Queens, New York, one of many posthumous honors.
On May l, 1997, Law Day in Massachusetts, a Portrait of Edward Orval Gourdin was placed in the Old Suffolk County Court House paying homage to the 100th year of his birth. Robert Freeman, a scholar, and artist painted the portrait.
Edward Orval Gourdin was a great Harvard scholar, athlete, lawyer, soldier, judge & Olympian.
Composed by William Tatum, Nephew
