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The Sad Story of Jim Thorpe
Topic Started: Jul 4 2012, 01:45 PM (238 Views)
becky sharp
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An interesting listen this morning on Radio 4...


This programme explores the sad and controversial life of Jim Thorpe - the American Indian who was the star of the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, where the Swedish King famously told him 'Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world'.

Thorpe had grown up on the Sac and Fox Indian reservation in Oklahoma and then, as a teenager, was sent 1500 miles away to a boarding school in Pennsylvania whose purpose was to 'civilise' Indian children by eradicating their culture. Its motto was 'Kill the Indian and save the man'. The pupils were forced to wear military uniforms, have short hair, and were punished if they spoke their own languages. 'The last phase of the Indian wars was fought in the classroom', says one contributor.

Thorpe was saved by sport and became the school's great star at both athletics and American football. He's often described as the 'first international sporting superstar'. But in 1913 it came out that he had been paid a few dollars to play minor-league baseball and the elite amateurs who ran US athletics rushed to condemn him as a professional. He was summarily stripped of his medals. But the public were on his side and his status in America is that of a popular hero victimised by those in power.

He went on to become the first great professional football player, but he could never cope with fame and died in near poverty in 1953. His widow arranged for him to be buried in a small town in Pennsylvania which offered to build a memorial to him. They town even changed its name to 'Jim Thorpe', but his Indian tribe are pursuing a legal battle to have his remains returned to Oklahoma.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kbhjt
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caissier
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It is so good how Radio 4 comes up with programmes like this. I'd like to know the background to how it works. The 11:00 - 12:00 section has such interesting, random programmes. They come thick and fast.
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Mobson
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I only caught a little of this programme this morning whilst making tea but am definitely going to listen to this programme in full as the little I heard made me stop what I was doing when I heard the bit about the eradication of the childrens culture - taking away their clothes, cutting their hair, stripping them of all identity......
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rumbaba
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Dreadful. What was that film about the kids that walked back home 'Rabbit proof fence'? , something like that.
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becky sharp
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rumbaba
Jul 5 2012, 02:57 PM
Dreadful. What was that film about the kids that walked back home 'Rabbit proof fence'? , something like that.
That's what it reminded me of,rum....I hated Kenneth Branagh in that ...(the character that is ....I love Kenneth Branagh... :) ....he returns in Wallander this weekend)
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becky sharp
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I was reminded by a friend that there was a film about Jim Thorpe starring Burt Lancaster...Jim Thorpe himself had a cameo in it as a coaching assistant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe_%E2%80%93_All-American
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