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Events and Activities
May
21, 2008
Major Taylor statue dedication
Worcester Public Library
Worcester, Mass.
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Greg LeMond
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Edwin Moses
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Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond and three-time Olympic medalist Edwin Moses will be featured speakers at the public unveiling of the Major Taylor memorial from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at the Worcester Public Library.
LeMond, who won a world championship in cycling 90 years after Major Taylor did, and Moses, who dominated the 400-meter hurdles in track and field for a decade, were each named "Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year" at the height of their athletic careers in the 1980s.
The statue of the "Worcester Whirlwind" created by sculptor Antonio Tobias Mendez is Worcester's first monument to an African-American. The dedication ceremony will be followed by a reception with refreshments in the library's Banx Room.
Preceding the noontime ceremony, the Seven Hills Wheelmen and the Charles River Wheelmen's Wednesday Wheelers will lead a 30-mile bicycle ride starting and ending at the library. Meet in the McGrath Municipal Parking Lot on Salem Street behind the library; the parking meters take 50 cents an hour. The ride will head north on Major Taylor Boulevard, follow scenic roads in Holden, and offer a glimpse, on the return, of George Street, the very steep hill where Major Taylor used to train. However, cyclists will not climb George Street on this ride. Registration is not required; just show up and be ready to roll by 8:45 a.m.
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Derrick Z. Jackson
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At 7 p.m. at the library, the Clark University History Department and Higgins School of Humanities will present a panel discussion on "Race, Sports, and Major Taylor's Legacy." Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson will be moderator for these scholars, historians and authors exploring diversity in sports and society, then and now:
Andrew Ritchie, author of the biography "Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer" (1988)
Janette T. Greenwood, associate professor of history at Clark University, author of a case study of Worcester County's black community in the late 1800s and of "Bittersweet Legacy," on the emergence and interaction of the black and white middle class
David V. Herlihy, author of "Bicycle: The History" (2004), with research on Major Taylor's popularity abroad
C. Keith Harrison, associate professor of sports business management at the University of Central Florida, and associate director of the Institute for Diversity & Ethics in Sport
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The Hilton Garden Inn on Major Taylor Boulevard is offering a special discount for guests attending the Major Taylor dedication May 21. To get the special rate, call the Worcester hotel directly at 508-753-5700, not the chain's toll-free reservations number, and say you're coming for the Major Taylor statue dedication.
"The Worcester Whirlwind," an exhibit presented by the Worcester Historical Museum and the Major Taylor Association, will be on display May 16-23 at the Worcester Public Library, in the Banx and Saxe Rooms. The exhibit consists of images of 1899 world cycling champion Major Taylor, his adopted hometown of Worcester at the turn of the last century during bicycling's heyday, and other cycling greats and locales.
The American Antiquarian Society, which offers free public tours at 3 p.m. Wednesdays, will highlight some items from its collection pertinent to the life and times of Major Taylor on the May 21 tour.
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