Herb Douglas, Jr. inspires both as an Olympian and a businessman
NEW YORK - As we continue to honor Black History Month, we feature a man who accomplished amazing things for nearly a century now: Herb Douglas, Jr., the Olympian, the businessman, and so much more.
As CBS2's Otis Livingston reports, Douglas has the incredible distinction of being the oldest living United State Olympic medalist. He competed at a time when racial discrimination was high, then ventured into the boardroom, where it wasn't much better. But he navigated both with class, and dignity.
Douglas was born to run, and he would start at an early age, in the hilly streets of Pittsburgh.
"My mother would send me to the store, three to four times some days, one time another day. And I kept going up the hill, down the hill. And they used say 'The Jogging Douglases,'" he said.
His mother and father would also make those trips un and down those hills, dad with the aid of a guide dog - the first African American in the United States to have one. He went blind when Herb Jr. was just 5-years-old, but that didn't stop him from leading a productive life.
"Dad taught me how to analyze, organize, initiate, and follow through. Because he couldn't have made it for 51 more years," Douglas said.
He was so influenced by none other than the great Jesse Owens, the four-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1936 games, in front of Adolf Hitler. At 14, Douglas sought out his idol, who gave him some great advice.
"Always try to be right, and perform. Performance. We have to perform, what, better than anything to be even," he said.
Douglas took those lessons into his own Olympic journey in 1948 in London, where he was one of only eight African Americans to make the trip by ship. They told each other "You better medal or don't come back." They all did, including Douglas' bronze medal in the long jump.
"When you stand on a podium and they're playing the national anthem, you could only feel good, 'cause you don't have any other place," he said. "The United States is really the greatest country."
Douglas hung up his cleats and entered the corporate world, and was a driving force at Hennessy, thanks mainly to the African American community.
"During my time, I couldn't contact any white account, only Black accounts. We built that up," he said.
Built it up to #1 in the world, and when he retired in 1987, he left three African American vice presidents. Herb Douglas, Jr. - an African American hero on the track, on the football field, and in the boardroom.
Known as the patriarch of Moet-Hennessy USA, he is in full retirement after a 30 year career in Schieffelin and Somerset. He will celebrate his 100th birthday in a couple of weeks, on March 9th.