In the 1930s, prizefighter Joe Louis emerged as the nation's first African American sports hero. Born Joseph Louis Barrow in Alabama, the "Brown Bomber" held one of boxing's most impressive career records: seventy-one fights, sixty-eight wins, and fifty-four knockouts. However, his greatest achievement was his universal popularity despite America's racial divide.

Louis became a national hero with his 1938 victory over German Max Schmeling (1905–). Their fight was one of the most celebrated events in boxing history. The fight came to symbolize the political conflicts between the United States and Nazi Germany (though Schmeling was not a Nazi). Louis was soon the world's most famous black man and was a source of pride to millions of African Americans. Whites also responded to the champ's appealing personality and admired him for postponing his career to enlist in the army during World War II (1939–45). Louis held the world...