John Armstrong "Army"Howard (October 6, 1888 – January 9, 1937[1]) was aCanadiantrack and field athlete. He was the first black Olympic athlete from Canada,[1] competing in the1912 Summer Olympics.[2]
Details of Howard's early life are sparse: he may have been born inWinnipeg[3][4] or inMinnesota.[5] In addition to his domination of Canadian sprinting, he also played baseball as a catcher on the Crescent Creamery Baseball Club in Winnipeg.[1][6]
Major Canadian media cited him as Canada's best gold medal hope for the 1912 Olympics. During training for the Olympics, he ran into conflicts with chief coachWalter Knox; according to theManitoba Free Press of June 27, 1912, Knox accused Howard of insubordination, and, in an era when discrimination against black athletes was common, threatened to expel him from the team. The efforts of theAmateur Athletic Union of Canada kept Howard on the team. In the Olympics in Stockholm, he was hindered by a stomach ailment[1] and stress resulting from discord with coach Knox. He was eliminated in the semi-finals of the100 metres competition as well as of the200 metres event. He was also a member of the Canadian relay teams, which were eliminated in the semi-final of the4x100 metre relay competition and in the first round of the4x400 metre relay event.
DuringWorld War I, he served as asapper with the Canadian Railway Troop, then transferred to the 11th and 18th Canadian Reserve Battalions and later served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, most likely as a stretcher-bearer.[7] He competed in the 1919Inter-Allied Games held in Paris where he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres race.[8]
He returned to Canada about two years after going to Europe with a white English wife, Edith (née Lipscomb).[1] They homesteaded inSte. Rose du Lac, north of Winnipeg, but were forced to leave by hostility to the interracial marriage.[1] Howard found work as a railway porter. Later, the marriage broke up.
He is the grandfather of Olympic sprintersHarry Jerome andValerie Jerome.[1]
In 2000, John Howard was inducted into theManitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
