On Friday, Oct. 14, members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity visited Jesse Owens Memorial Park to donate to the popular museum. The donation included an APA track jersey, APA history books, and a replica of Owens’ APA membership shingle. The fraternity also gifted the museum and its directors $1,000. Owens became a member of the fraternity at Ohio State University in 1935.
District Director of Alabama Clinton Johnson, Jr. presented the items to museum director Nancy Pinion during a short ceremony inside the museum. Pinion and her husband, James Pinion, have curated the museum and park on a volunteer basis since the attractions opened in the late ‘1990s.
“As long as I can do it, I’m going to continue to do this,” Pinion told the APA members. “Everything we get either goes to the tour guides or into the museum. Know this money will be spent to perpetuate [Owens] legacy in an honorable way. We just appreciate this more than you’ll ever know. We’ll find a place to put these beautiful items so everyone who comes will know that he belonged to Alpha Phi Alpha.”
After the ceremony, APA members spent time touring the museum before taking a group picture in front of Owens’ statue.
The donation was organized prior to the fraternity’s State Convention this past weekend. Earlier this year, Johnson voiced a desire to do something for the museum during the convention.
