FRANKLIN, Tenn. (TSU News Service) –New Hope Academy recently celebrated the life of one of the top track and field coaches in the history of the sport by renaming the upper school wing to the Coach Edward S. Temple Upper School Wing.
TSU Director of Track and Field Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice was among those who attended the ceremony on Sept. 27 in Franklin, Tennessee.
“He’s leaving a legacy, and I know that New Hope Academy was really dear to Coach Temple,” Cheeseborough-Guice said. “I’m excited to be part of it.”
Temple, who died last year at the age of 89, began working with New Hope Academy in 2010 until his passing. He coached the Tigerbelles from 1953 to 1994 and served as head coach of the U.S. Olympics women’s teams in 1960 and 1964 and assistant coach in 1980.
Temple coached his teams to more than 30 national titles and led 40 athletes to the Olympics. The famed Tigerbelles earned a total of 27 Olympic medals, 15 of which were gold.
New Hope Academy Headmaster Stuart Tutler also noted that all the Tigerbelles graduated and that many have master’s degrees and Ph.Ds., which he said “speaks volumes to what he instilled in them.”
“That’s the kind of drive I want in our students here at New Hope Academy,” Tutler said. “Coach came every year and he would talk to them about how important it was for them to take their time and learn and forget about every other distraction. It was very good for him to be here and for our kids to see that.”
Other attendees at the ceremony were Franklin Mayor Ken Moore, Coach Temple’s daughter Edwina Temple, and Tigerbelles Edith McGuire Duvall, Derica Dunn-Moody and Wyomia Tyus.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 8,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 25 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Hundreds of people attended a memorial service for legendary track and field coach Edward S. Temple, a man heavily praised, mainly for being a game changer.
TSU President Glenda Glover speaks at Coach Ed Temple memorial service . (photo by John Cross, TSU Public Relations)
“Coach Ed Temple helped to put TSU on the international stage,” TSU President Glenda Glover said during the Sept. 30 service in the university’s Kean Hall. “He made TSU a household name.”
Temple died Sept. 22 at the age of 89. Among those attending his service were Temple’s daughter, Edwina; Gov. Bill Haslam; Nashville Mayor Megan Barry; a number of Temple’s famed Tigerbelles; and representatives from the U.S. Olympic Committee and United States of America Track and Field Association.
“I get the honor everyday to represent 6.6 million Tennesseans. And on special occasions, I get the opportunity to recognize some very special Tennesseans,” Haslam said. “And there is no doubt that we’re here today to honor a man who is one of those. Your coach deserves to be in the very top level of our heroes of Tennessee.”
Barry said she has a small replica of a statue of Temple on her desk, to remind her of the “incredible impact that one person can have.”
U.S. Olympic Committee representative Tracy Sundlun knew Coach Temple for more than 40 years. He said Temple was “always willing to share with those of us who came after him.”
“He was a very generous man,” Sundlun said. “He gave without hesitation, or reservation.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. (photo by John Cross, TSU Public Relations)
During his speech, Sundlun read a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association that said in part: “We believe Ed to be the most prolific women’s track and field coach in the history of the sport,” which caused an eruption of applause.
Before the service, Davidson County Criminal Court clerk Howard Gentry, Jr. expressed similar sentiment during an interview when he called Temple “an icon, not to be duplicated in any form.”
“He built a team of world class track participants who changed the landscape of women’s track forever,” said Gentry, who was TSU’s athletic director when Temple retired.
Temple was head of TSU’s women’s track and field program from 1950 to 1994. Under his coaching, the Tigerbelles won 23 Olympic medals. In all, he led more than 40 athletes to the Olympics. His athletes also accumulated more than 30 national titles.
Former Tigerbelle and Olympic gold medalist Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, who heads TSU’s track and field program. (photo by John Cross, TSU Public Relations)
Dwight Lewis, who is co-authoring a book about the Tigerbelles, said there were a few countries like Germany that dominated track and field, particularly at the Olympic Games, up until the mid-1950s. But then the Tigerbelles made their presence known at the Games in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 when they won several bronze medals.
They continued that domination at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, highlighted by Wilma Rudolph’s three gold medals, the first American woman to win that many gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.
“Since 1960, it’s been America dominating,” Lewis said. “And it was the Tigerbelles who started that wave. Coach Temple would often say, ‘They paved the way for other women in sports.’”
Olympic gold medalist Ralph Boston, who was among the athletes that Temple trained, agreed his legacy lives on.
“He certainly made a difference in the track and field world,” said Boston, who got a gold medal in the long jump competition during the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Coach Ed Temple’s daughter, Edwina. (photo by John Cross, TSU Public Relations)
Boston and others say Temple’s accomplishments were even more impressive coming in the midst of severe racism and discrimination that permeated the United States during the 1950s and 1960s.
“He did it in some of the toughest times that our nation faced,” Gentry said. “And so to see that occur in the 50s and the 60s, and then moving into the 70s, was an amazing feat by one person. But also a true inspiration for all who had the ability to experience it.”
Monica Fawknotson, executive director of the Metro Sports Authority, of which Temple was a founding member, said Temple had a “profound influence.”
“He not only embodied excellence, he expected it from us and, like all great coaches, called it out of us,” Fawknotson said. “He taught us that greatness is not about one’s color or gender, but about hard work and the spirit of a person.”
In 2015, a 9-foot bronze statue was unveiled in Temple’s likeness at First Tennessee Park in Nashville. The visionary for the statue was Nashville businessman Bo Roberts, who said the project had been in the works for well over a decade, and that he was glad the unveiling could finally take place for one of his longtime heroes.
“We hope locals and visitors will come to this statue to learn about and honor one of the city’s most important citizens,” Roberts said.
Coach Temple’s legacy is now on display for the world to see as exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The TSU collection includes Temple’s Olympic jacket, replicas of gold medals, and other artifacts or memorabilia.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The women Ed Temple helped become Olympic medalists say the legendary track and field coach was a “father figure” who motivated them to be successful outside the sport.
Tigerbelles and Olympic Gold Medalists Wyomia Tyus and Edith McGuire Duvall speak at Temple memorial press conference. (Photo by John S. Cross, TSU Media Relations)
Coach Temple died Sept. 22 at the age of 89. A memorial service was held Sept. 30 in TSU’s Kean Hall, and many of Temple’s famed Tigerbelles attended.
One of them was former Tigerbelle Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, who inherited the title of TSU track coach from Temple. She made Olympic history at the 1984 Los Angeles Games when she ran a leg on two gold-medal relay teams and was the silver medalist in the 400 meters.
She recalled Temple calling her after he retired in 1994 and urging her to take the job. She didn’t say no.
“I got the job and 22 years later, I’m still here at Tennessee State,” said Cheeseborough-Guice, adding that she considered Temple to be a “father figure, and a man of truth and wisdom.”
“I’m blessed that he entrusted me with this program, to keep the legacy going,” she said.
Temple led the Tigerbelles to 23 Olympic medals. In all, of the 40 athletes he trained and sent to the Olympics, 100 percent of them received college degrees.
“This speaks to his greatness and impact,” said TSU President Glenda Glover. “Tennessee State will always remember Ed Temple, the man and the coach.”
Coach Temple’s daughter, Edwina, said about 85 percent of those 40 Olympians have more than one degree, and roughly 10 percent have doctorates.
“He wanted them to get an education,” she said. “He wanted them to be productive citizens once they left this institution.”
Former Tigerbelles Madeline Manning Mims and Edith McGuire Duvall, and current Tigerbelle Amber Hughes, sign banner dedicated to Coach Ed Temple before his memorial service. (photo by John Cross, TSU Public Relations)
Former Tigerbelle and two-time Olympic medalist Madeline Manning Mims said it was Temple who encouraged her to get her doctorate.
“He just really encouraged me to go all the way,” Mims said. “I remember calling Edwina and letting her know when I got my master’s, and he said, ‘OK, you’ve gone all the way in athletics, now go all the way in education.’”
Former Tigerbelle Edith McGuire Duvall said she appreciated the fact that Temple wanted his athletes to perform just as good, or better, in the classroom.
“He impressed upon me to finish school,” said the Olympic gold medalist, adding that she lost her father a year before she started at TSU, and that Temple was someone she turned to for advice. “This man treated us all like his kids. We were there to run track, but also to get an education.”
Olympic bronze medalist Margaret Matthews Wilburn, a retired Memphis principal, said her experience with Temple as a Tigerbelle helped her be successful in the workforce.
“Some of the skills I learned from him; some of the work habits I learned from him, I used them as a principal,” Wilburn said. “He made me a better person.”
Current Tigerbelle Amber Hughes said that even though she didn’t train under Temple, she feels fortunate to be coached by someone who did.
“Just to know that he is the one who brought my coach here, and that I’m now under the coaching of who he coached and brought up,” Hughes said. “He was a great man.”
Coach Temple’s legacy is now on display as exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The TSU collection includes Temple’s Olympic jacket, replicas of gold medals won by the Tigerbelles, and other artifacts or memorabilia.
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Legendary track and field coach Ed Temple’s impact on the sport will be discussed for generations to come, say those close to the man who led Tennessee State University’s famed Tigerbelles to 23 Olympic medals.
Temple died Sept. 22 at the age of 89. A memorial service is planned for Sept. 30 in TSU’s Kean Hall.
Coach Ed Temple’s daughter, Edwina (far left); Sculptor Brian Hanlon; Coach Temple; TSU President Glenda Glover at unveiling of sculpture honoring Temple. (photo by John Cross)
“His accomplishments are unparalleled and continue to resonate even today on our campus and with any organization participating in the sport,” said TSU President Glenda Glover. “Tennessee State will always remember Ed Temple, the man and the coach.”
Davidson County Criminal Court clerk Howard Gentry, Jr., who was TSU’s athletic director when Temple retired, called him “an icon, not to be duplicated in any form.”
“He built a team of world class track participants who changed the landscape of women’s track forever,” Gentry said.
Temple was head of TSU’s women’s track and field program from 1950 to 1994. He led more than 40 athletes to the Olympics, snagging 16 gold medals. His athletes also accumulated more than 30 national titles.
Dwight Lewis, who is co-authoring a book about the Tigerbelles, said there were a few countries like Germany that dominated track and field, particularly at the Olympic Games, up until the mid-1950s. But then the Tigerbelles made their presence known at the Games in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 when they won several bronze medals.
They continued that domination at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, highlighted by Wilma Rudolph’s three gold medals, the first American woman to win that many gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.
(TSU archives)
“Since 1960, it’s been America dominating,” Lewis said. “And it was the Tigerbelles who started that wave. Coach Temple would often say, ‘They paved the way for other women in sports.’”
Olympic gold medalist Ralph Boston, who was among the athletes that Temple trained, agreed his legacy lives on.
“He certainly made a difference in the track and field world,” said Boston, who got a gold medal in the long jump competition during the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Boston and others say Temple’s accomplishments were even more impressive coming in the midst of severe racism and discrimination that permeated the United States during the 1950s and 1960s.
“He did it in some of the toughest times that our nation faced,” Gentry said. “And so to see that occur in the 50s and the 60s, and then moving into the 70s, was an amazing feat by one person. But also a true inspiration for all who had the ability to experience it.”
Monica Fawknotson, executive director of the Metro Sports Authority, of which Temple was a founding member, said Temple had a “profound influence.”
“He not only embodied excellence, he expected it from us and, like all great coaches, called it out of us,” Fawknotson said. “He taught us that greatness is not about one’s color or gender, but about hard work and the spirit of a person.”
In 2015, a 9-foot bronze statue was unveiled in Temple’s likeness at First Tennessee Park in Nashville. The visionary for the statue was Nashville businessman Bo Roberts, who said the project had been in the works for well over a decade, and that he was glad the unveiling could finally take place for one of his longtime heroes.
“We hope locals and visitors will come to this statue to learn about and honor one of the city’s most important citizens,” Roberts said.
Coach Temple’s legacy is now on display for the world to see as exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The TSU collection includes Temple’s Olympic jacket, replicas of gold medals, and other artifacts or memorabilia.
To read more about Coach Temple, and get information about the memorial service, visit: www.tnstate.edu/edtemple.
Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – When people use the phrase, “living legend,” it is a perfect fit for describing legendary Olympic track and field coach Ed Temple.
Nearly 200 people including federal, state and local government officials, as well as family and friends turn out as the city unveils a 9-foot bronze statute honoring legendary TSU track and field Coach Ed Temple. (Photo by John Cross, TSU Media Relations)Temple was honored with a “befitting” tribute among family, friends and an entire community Aug. 27 chronicling his outstanding 40-plus-year career on-and-off the track when a 9-foot bronze statue was unveiled in his likeness at First Tennessee Park in Nashville, Tennessee.
During the ceremony, Temple shared some of his fondest memories as TSU’s head track coach, as well as his experiences with the Olympic team. He also acknowledged and thanked his family, the community, former student-athletes and administrators for their support.
“I’m just glad to be on top of the ground,” said Temple to a crowd of nearly 200, of his ability to see the statue in his honor.
Temple, 87, served as Tennessee State University’s women’s track coach from 1953 to 1994. He led 40 athletes to the Olympics, snagging a total of 23 medals, 13 of which were gold. His athletes also accumulated more than 30 national titles. Temple’s accomplishments are even more impressive coming in the midst of severe racism and discrimination that permeated the United States during the 1950s and 1960s.
The idea to erect the statue was the vision of Nashville businessman Bo Roberts. Roberts said the project had been in the works for well over a decade, and he was glad the unveiling could finally take place for one of his long-time heroes.
“The Coach Temple Statue Committee is grateful to those who have given. Each is now part of Nashville’s history and a part of Temple’s team,” Roberts said. “The Coach’s impact on Nashville will forever be immortalized by this statue. We hope locals and visitors will come to this statue to learn about and honor one of the city’s most important citizens.”
According to an Aug. 29 article in The Tennessean newspaper, the effort to erect the statue kicked into high gear in October 2012 after Roberts met with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, who hosted the first fundraising event to raise the $80,000 needed to make and anchor the statue. Since 2011, Roberts has diligently organized fundraisers, called on donors and worked with TSU to make the project a reality.
Among the supporters at Friday’s unveiling ceremony was TSU President Glenda Glover, Mayor Dean, Congressman Jim Cooper, and former TSU Tigerbelles Wyomia Tyus and Edith McQuire Duvall, who made brief remarks at the event.
“Coach Temple’s accomplishments in track and field at TSU are unparalleled nationally and internationally,” President Glover said before introducing Coach Temple. “He groomed the Tigerbelles for greatness on-and-off the track field. While he receives his accolades for accomplishments on the track field, as an educator and university president, I’m most proud of his coaching away from competition. He and his wife, the late Charlie B. Temple, prepared the Tigerbelles to be winners in life after track. He is truly to be applauded for that.”
“This is a great day for Nashville,” Dean said. “From the racial segregation of the Eisenhower days to the Clinton days, Coach Temple has amassed a career that is difficult for anyone to match.
“He did things the right way. Out of the 40 athletes he got to the Olympics – 100 percent of them received college degrees. Coach Temple is a man of great character, gentle humor and steely determination. He is a great teacher which is one of the best things you can be.”
Tyus, the first person to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter dash, was recruited by Temple in 1963 receiving a scholarship and a spot on his famed Tigerbelles team. She said Coach Temple always pushed them to excellence.
“I never thought I would see this in my lifetime,” said Tyus, considered the fastest woman in the world in 1964 and 1968. “Coach always says he wants his roses while he’s still alive, and I am so happy to see this today.”
Temple was head coach of the US Olympics Women’s Track and Field teams in 1960 and 1964 and assistant coach in 1980. He has been inducted into nine different Halls of Fame, including the Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012, in which he is one of only four coaches to be inducted. He is a past member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, the International Women’s Track and Field Committee and the Nashville Sports Council. He also served as chairman of Nashville’s 200-plus member Amateur Sports Committee.
In addition to being part of the Tennessee State University Hall of Fame, Temple’s legacy of excellence continues in such recognitions as the Edward S. Temple Track at Tennessee State University; Ed Temple Boulevard in Nashville, adjacent to the TSU campus; the Edward Temple Award established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Track and Field Coaches Association; and the Edward S. Temple Seminars: Society and Sports, held annually at Tennessee State University.
Temple’s autobiography, Only the Pure in Heart Survive, was published in 1980. The book, along with additional papers and memorabilia from his lifetime of achievement, are part of the Special Collections department in TSU’s Brown-Daniel Library.
“Even the Bible says a prophet is seldom honored in his hometown,” said Congressman Cooper at the ceremony. “But here we are honoring perhaps one of the greatest coaches in all of history.”
Brian Hanlon, the commissioned sculptor of the project said, “This is an historical marker that celebrates the principles of real discipline. It is a huge feather in my hat, not just artistically but for what this stands for in our community.”
Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University
With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.
![Temple[1]](http://tnstatenewsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Temple1.jpg)