Biography:

Boxer; heavyweight champion. Born– May 13, 1914, Lexington, Chambers County. Parents– Munrow and Lilly (Reese) Barrow. Married– Marva Trotter, September 24, 1935. Children–two. Married–Rose Morgan, 1955. Married– Martha Jefferson, May 11, 1951. Children– four. Competed 1934-1951. Honors– Won the light heavyweight championship of the National Amateur Athletic Union, 1934; world professional heavyweight champ, 1937-1949; retired as champion; served as greeter, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nev. Named fighter of the year four times by The Ring magazine.  Ranked the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, 2005. First African-American to appear in a PGA event.  Many sports facilities were named in his honor; a statue was erected in front of the Chambers County Courthouse; first boxer to appear on a postage stamp, 1993. Died April 12, 1981.

Source:

Who’s Who in America, 1980, My Life Story.

Publication(s):

How to Box. Philadelphia; D. McKay, 1948.

Joe Louis, My Life. New York; Harcourt, 1978.

My Life Story. New York; Duell, Sloan, 1947.