Cleveland Abbott

Cleveland Abbott
Sport(s) Football, basketball
Biographical details
Born (1894-12-09)December 9, 1894
Yankton, South Dakota
Died April 14, 1955(1955-04-14) (aged 60)
Tuskegee, Alabama
Playing career
Football
c. 1912 - 1915 South Dakota State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1923–1954 Tuskegee
Basketball
1933–1936 Tuskegee
Head coaching record
Overall 203–96–28 (football)
27–18 (basketball)
Bowls 5–6
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
6 Black college national (1924–1927, 1929–1930)
12 SIAC (1924–1933, 1936, 1943)

Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott (some sources say "Cleveland S. Abbott") (December 9, 1894 – April 14, 1955) was an African-American football player, coach and educator.[1]

Life

Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service, Abbott at left

Abbott was born in Yankton, South Dakota in 1894, one of seven children to Albert (aka Elbert) Abbott (1862 [born: Abbeyville, GA]-1952 [Death: Huron, SD]) and Mollie Brown Abbott (1868-1909). Abbott attended and graduated from high school 1908-1912 Watertown, South Dakota. He Attended and then received his bachelor's degree 1912 - 1916 from South Dakota State College in Brookings, South Dakota. He was an outstanding, multi-sport athlete at Watertown High School (16 varsity sports letters) and SDSC (now SDSU) (14 varsity letters). Hired by Booker T. Washington in 1913 to be the Tuskegee Institute football coach and dairy instructor upon 1916 SDSC graduation. He joined the US Army in 1917 at Camp Dodge and mustered out in 1919. After serving in Europe in World War I as an officer in the 366th Infantry Regiment, Abbott taught at the Kansas Vocational School in Topeka, Kansas. In 1923, Abbott accepted a position as Athletic Director, professor and coach at Tuskegee.[2]

Abbott was the eighth head football coach for the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers located in Tuskegee, Alabama[3] and he held that position for 32 seasons, from 1923 until 1954.

Abbott earned the respect of his peers through his team's performance and by participating in national committees for the selection of "all-American" players at the collegiate level.[4]

First African American member of USA Track and Field Board about 1940. First African American member of the US Olympic Committee in 1946.

Coach of first African American Olympic Gold Medal winner Alice Coachman, 1948. Coach to second African American Olympic Gold Medal winner Mildred McDaniel, 1956.

Wife, Jessie Abbott (born: Des Moines, Iowa, died: Tuskegee, AL) and daughter Jessie Ellen Abbott.

Abbott died in 1955 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Cleveland Abbott inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame September 2018.

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Tuskegee Golden Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1923–1954)
1923 Tuskegee 7–1–1
1924 Tuskegee 9–0–11st
1925 Tuskegee 8–0–11st
1926 Tuskegee 10–01st
1927 Tuskegee 9–0–11st
1928 Tuskegee 6–1–4T–1st
1929 Tuskegee 10–01st
1930 Tuskegee 11–0–11stW Prairie View Bowl
1931 Tuskegee 10–21st
1932 Tuskegee 6–11stL Prairie View Bowl
1933 Tuskegee 9–1–21st
1934 Tuskegee 6–5–1W Prairie View Bowl
1935 Tuskegee 8–4
1936 Tuskegee 7–51stW Prairie View Bowl
1937 Tuskegee 6–3–1
1938 Tuskegee 1–7–2L Prairie View Bowl
1939 Tuskegee 3–7
1940 Tuskegee 5–4
1941 Tuskegee 8–2L Orange Blossom Classic
1942 Tuskegee 7–3L Vulcan
1943 Tuskegee 9–2–11stW Vulcan
1944 Tuskegee 6–4–1W Vulcan
1945 Tuskegee 6–6–1L Prairie View Bowl
1946 Tuskegee 10–2L Yam Bowl
1947 Tuskegee 6–4–1
1948 Tuskegee 4–4–1
1949 Tuskegee 4–6
1950 Tuskegee 2–5–2
1951 Tuskegee 6–3
1952 Tuskegee 2–6–2
1953 Tuskegee 2–6–2
1954 Tuskegee 3–5–1
Tuskegee: 206–99–27
Total:206–99–27

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Afro American January 27, 1940
  2. ↑ The College on the Hill, a Sense of South Dakota State University History, Dunkle and Smith, 2003
  3. ↑ The Fayetteville Observer "Negro Gridiron Circuit is Popular" October 25, 1939
  4. ↑ Baltimore Afro-American "Looking 'em Over" November 2, 1946
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