William Franklin "Burgie" Burghardt (February 4, 1912 – August 8, 1981)[2] was an American football and basketball coach and former athlete.
 Burghardt pictured in The Eagle 1940, NCC yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1912 Greenfield, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1981 (aged 69) Rockville, Maryland, U.S.[1] |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1930–1934 | Eureka |
| Position(s) | Center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1937–1941 | North Carolina College |
| Basketball | |
| 1937–1940 | North Carolina College |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 22–17–4 (football) 47–21 (basketball) |
Family and early life
editBurghardt was born and raised in the small town of Greenfield, Illinois, where his father and grandfather were barbers. He traced his family eight generations to an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution and was related to William Edward Burghardt "W. E. B." Du Bois.[3]
College
editBurghardt competed in football and track and field at Eureka College, where he was co-captain of the football team his senior year. At Eureka, he was on the football team with future president Ronald Reagan, who was two years ahead of him. In 1931, while playing a road trip against another small college in Illinois, a hotel refused to allow Burqhardt and the team's other black player to stay. The coach was angry and decided that the whole team would sleep on the bus. Reagan, Burqhardt later recalled, worried that this would cause the team's performance to suffer and thus humiliate the black players and harm their morale, and suggested instead that the coach tell the team that the hotel did not have enough rooms. Reagan paid for a taxi for Burqhardt and their teammate to Dixon, Illinois, to stay with his parents, Jack and Nelle Reagan, who warmly welcomed them.[4]
In Reagan's 1986 autobiography, Where's the Rest of Me?, he told a story about a racist player on an opposing team who was "filled with hatred and prejudice" and "played dirty" while targeting Burghardt. Though Burghardt was injured, he refused to play dirty and astounded the other team with his strength and skill. At the end of the game, the defeated player turned around to shake Burghardt's hand, telling him he was the greatest human being he had ever met. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1986, President Reagan shared the same story at a school in Washington, D.C.[5] Reagan and Burqhardt remained friends, many decades later.[3][6]
Coaching and later life
editBurqhardt served as the seventh head football coach at the North Carolina College for Negroes — now known as North Carolina Central University — in Durham, North Carolina and he held that position for five seasons, from 1937 until 1941, compiling a record of 22–17–4.[7] Burghardt was also the head basketball coach at North Carolina Central from to 1937 to 1940, tallying a mark of 47–21.
Burghardt later received his PhD and published articles on health and physical education. In 1971, he was inducted into the Eureka College Athletic Hall of Fame.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Franklin Burghardt death reported". Woodford County Journal. Eureka, Illinois. August 13, 1981. p. 4.
- ^ U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
- ^ a b Allen, Henry (May 10, 1981). "Reagan, black college pal have kept in touch". The Washington Post.
- ^ "A personal anecdote in defense of Ronald Reagan". The Star-Democrat. Easton, Maryland. November 30, 2010. p. 4.
- ^ "Reagan lauds King in speech at black school". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. January 16, 1986. p. 3. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Reagan and Race". August 2019.
- ^ "North Carolina Central University coaching records". Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
- ^ "Six Chosen for College's Athletic Hall of Fame". Woodford County Journal. December 3, 1970. p. 1.