America's First Olympics: The St. Louis Games of 1904 » (1)

America s First Olympics corrects common misconceptions that began with International Olympic Committee President Pierre de Coubertin s memoirs and presents a fresh view of the 1904 games, which featured firsttime African American Olympians, an eccentric and controversial marathon, and documentation by pioneering photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals. Matthews provides an excellent overview of the St. Louis Olympics over a sixmonth period, beginning with the intrigue surrounding the transfer of the games from Chicago. He also gives detailed descriptions of the major players in the Olympic movement, the events that were held in 1904, and the athletes who competed in them.

Author Bio: George R. Matthews, writer and sports historian, is Director of Athletics at Sage Ridge School in Reno, Nevada. He has published articles in the Journal of Sports History and the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and is the author of A Complete Guide to the Wabash Trace Nature Trail and St. Louis Olympics 1904, a collection of photographs.