The exhibit opens to the public October 16 and runs through April 30, 2008.
| Louis Wolfson walking with Affirmed, Florida Horse magazine, 1978. Florida had its first Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes) horse race winner, Affirmed, owned by Louis E. and Patrice Wolfson, shown here, and trained in Ocala. Affirmed (Feb. 21, 1975 - Jan. 12, 2001) remains the last Triple Crown winner. Wolfson, a self-made businessman moved with his family to Jacksonville at the age of one. An outstanding athlete, he played football for JacksonvilleÕs Andrew Jackson High School. Wolfson died in 2007 at his home in Bal Harbour. | |
| Skip Bertman at Al LopŽz field in Tampa, where he directed Miami Beach High to itÕs first Florida State Baseball Championship, 1970. Bertman, who grew up in Miami Beach, was a former Miami Beach High and University of Miami coach and then became the athletic director at Louisiana State University in 1984. Skip was named National Coach of the Year three times and in 1988 he served as pitching coach for the U.S. Olympic gold medal team. Skip retired as LSUÕs Director of Athletics in June 2008 and will remain the Athletic Director Emeritus through 2010. | |
| Angela Buxton with Wimbledon trophy, 1956. Angela Buxton, a Jewish girl born in England, was one of the top female tennis players in the world in the mid-1950s. During the Maccabiah Games in Israel in October 1953 she picked up two gold medals. She then teamed with Althea Gibson, a black girl, to win the Wimbledon Doubles Championship in 1956. That same year Buxton was a Wimbledon Singles finalist and was ranked No. 5 in the world by World Tennis Magazine. She experienced much antisemitism in her career. Even 50 years after her Wimbledon triumph, the exclusive All England Lawn Tennis Club has still not invited her to join. She currently splits her time between Manchester, England and Pompano Beach, FL. | |
| Julie Cohen playing for the University of Miami, c. 1960. When Cohen came to Miami from Brooklyn, he was shocked to see that schools were segregated and hotels on the beach were restricted against Jews. Sometimes when he played, he heard antisemitic remarks by other players, something he had not experienced in New York. Cohen played for the University of Miami from 1959-62 where he was part of the first UM team to go the NCAA Tournament, was team captain his senior year and placed on the all-time scoring list. Between his junior and senior years at UM, Cohen participated in the Maccabiah Games, where his team beat Israel in the finals. After receiving a masterÕs in health, Cohen taught health and wellness classes at Miami-Dade College from 1966-2003. | |
| Al ÒFlipÓ Rosen scorecard, October 21, 1950. Al "Flip" Rosen, considered one of the best Jewish baseball players of all time, obtained his nickname ÒFlipÓ as a softball pitcher, because of the way he ÒflippedÓ the ball to the batter. Rosen was raised in Miami and played football for the University of Florida and University of Miami. His entire ten-year baseball career (1947-1956) was with the Cleveland Indians. Rosen, in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, was one of the best all-time Jewish players, sharing honors with his friends Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax (who lives in Vero Beach, FL), who also refused to play baseball on the Jewish high holy days. | |
| ÒMose Solomon, Home Run King of Minors, for Giants,Ó 1923. In 1920 Jews totaled more than a quarter of New YorkÕs population and were a huge untapped market amongst sports teams. ÒA home-run hitter with [a Jewish] name in New York would be worth a million,Ó Manager John McGraw told the New York Tribune. After a few years back in the minor leagues, he retired after suffering an injury, but continued his athletic involvement playing various sports and managing semi-pro and professional baseball teams in the Florida Eastern Coast League of Miami, where he lived (his son was Joe Solomon of Miller-Solomon Construction). | |