Sol Butler

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameSolomon Wellings "Sol"•Butler
Used nameSol•Butler
Born3 March 1895 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma (USA)
Died1 December 1954 in Chicago, Illinois (USA)
Measurements178 cm / 74 kg
AffiliationsUniversity of Dubuque, Dubuque (USA)
NOC United States

Biography

Sol Butler competed for Dubuque College and the Lincoln AC, earning 12 varsity letters at Dubuque in football, basketball, baseball, and track between 1915-19. Per Arthur Ashe’s book Hard Road to Glory, Butler was the first African-American to quarterback a college football team for four years.

Butler won the AAU long jump in 1920 and was the favorite at the Olympics, but injured himself on his first jump, withdrew, and placed only seventh. He did win the long jump at the 1919 Inter-Allied Championships.

Butler played in the early years of the NFL with several teams: Hammond Pros, Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, and Rock Island Independents. He later settled in Chicago where he worked as a probation officer and was sports editor for the Chicago Bee and The Defender newspapers. Butler also appeared in minor parts in several movies, and he owned nightclubs in Chicago and set up his own talent agency. For a brief period, Butler represented renowned singer and athlete Paul Robeson.

On 1 December 1954, Butler was working at Paddy’s Liquors, one of his Chicago taverns, when he ejected a man named Jimmie Hill, who had been harassing two women in the tavern. Hill returned to the tavern and shot Butler in the hip and chest, murdering him.

Personal Best: LJ – 7.52 (24-8) (1920).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1920 Summer Olympics Athletics USA Sol Butler
Long Jump, Men (Olympic) 7 r1/2

Special Notes