CLEVELAND — Jesse Owens was a famous track and field star who won four gold medals for the United States at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. He’s a former resident of Cleveland. The owner of the property where Owens lived when he made Olympic history wants to preserve it has a historical landmark.

What You Need To Know

  • Jesse Owens was a famous track and field star who won four gold medals for track and field in Berlin in 1936

  • He lived in Cleveland when he won those medals

  • The owner of the property where Owens lived when he made Olympic history wants to preserve it has a historical landmark

“He didn’t let his challenges defeat him. He defeated his challenges,” said John Cummings, who is the property owner for the Jesse Owens House.

Cummings has owned the home since 1996. He said when he bought the property, he didn’t know its historical significance.

“Some of the long-time residents of the street was telling me about it. They asked me, ‘did I know?’ I was shocked and surprised,” said Cummings.

Owens lived in a house on Cleveland’s east side when he became the first American to win four track and field gold medals in a single Olympics. Today, that property is just across the street from the Cleveland Clinic.

“Jesse Owens, he gave Hitler his first defeat,” said Cummings about Owens’ Olympic performance in 1936.

Cummings would like to see the property designated as a historic landmark. He said he plans to restore parts of the outside to what it looked like when Owens lived here.

“We have an architect. We’re waiting to hear back from our architect,” said Cummings.

“The Jesse Owens house, we’ve known about the house for some time,” said Margaret Lann of the Cleveland Restoration Society. The Cleveland Restoration Society is helping Cummings get the property listed as a historical landmark.

“It ensures the house is protected from demolition. As changes are made to it, they’re going to be changes that are architecturally representative of time when Jesse Owens was living in the house,” said Lann.

Tenants currently live in the Jesse Owens House so the inside is not visible to the public.

Once they vacate, Cummings said he plans to restore the inside and turn it into a museum.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity that most individuals don’t get, to establish something and leave behind for the public.,” said Cummings.

Once the Jesse Owens house is designated as a historic landmark by Cleveland, Cummings said he hopes to have it registered on a state and national level.

“Jesse Owens had a lot of challenges. It’s amazing he could move forward. We’re going to try to move forward in the spirit of Jesse Owens,” said Cummings.