Cleveland Abbott

Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott (some sources say "Cleveland S. Abbott") (December 9, 1894 – April 14, 1955) was an American football player, coach and educator.[1] He was the head coach of the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team from 1923 to 1954.

Cleveland Abbott
Biographical details
Born(1894-12-09)December 9, 1894
Yankton, South Dakota, U.S.
DiedApril 14, 1955(1955-04-14) (aged 60)
Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.
Playing career
Football
c. 1912–1915South Dakota State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1923–1954Tuskegee
Basketball
1933–1936Tuskegee
Head coaching record
Overall203–96–28 (football)
27–18 (basketball)
Bowls4–7
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
6 black college national (1924–1927, 1929–1930)
12 SIAC (1924–1933, 1936, 1943)

Life
Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service, Abbott at left

Abbott was born in Yankton, South Dakota in 1894, one of seven children to Albert B. (aka Elbert) Abbott (1862 Abbeville, GA – 1952 Huron, SD) and Mollie Brown Abbott (1868–1909).

Abbott graduated from high school (1908–1912) Watertown, South Dakota. He received his bachelor's degree (1912–1916) from South Dakota State College (SDSC) in Brookings, South Dakota. He was an outstanding, multi-sport athlete at Watertown High School (16 varsity sports letters) and SDSC (now SDSU) (14 varsity letters). Hired by Booker T. Washington in 1913 to be the Tuskegee Institute football coach and dairy instructor upon 1916 SDSC graduation.

He joined the US Army in 1917 at Camp Dodge and served in Europe in World War I as an officer in the 366th Infantry Regiment

After mustered out in 1919, Abbott taught at the Kansas Vocational School in Topeka, Kansas. In 1923, Abbott accepted a position as Athletic Director, professor and coach at Tuskegee.[2] Abbott was the eighth head football coach for the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers located in Tuskegee, Alabama[3] and he held that position for 32 seasons, from 1923 until 1954. Abbott earned the respect of his peers through his team's performance and by participating in national committees for the selection of "all-American" players at the collegiate level.[4]

He was the first African-American member of USA Track and Field Board circa 1940 and the first African-American member of the US Olympic Committee in 1946. He coached the first African-American Olympic champion, Alice Coachman (1948 high jump), and the second, Mildred McDaniel (1956 high jump).

He was married to Jessie Harriette Scott (March 23, 1897, Des Moines, Iowa – August 12, 1982, Tuskegee, Alabama) and had had a daughter, Jessie Ellen Abbott.

Abbott died on April 17, 1955, in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Cleveland Abbott was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in September 2018.

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Tuskegee Golden Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1923–1954)
1923 Tuskegee 7–1–1
1924 Tuskegee 9–0–11st
1925 Tuskegee 8–0–11st
1926 Tuskegee 10–01st
1927 Tuskegee 9–0–11st
1928 Tuskegee 6–1–4T–1st
1929 Tuskegee 10–01st
1930 Tuskegee 11–0–11stW Prairie View
1931 Tuskegee 10–21st
1932 Tuskegee 6–11stL Prairie View
1933 Tuskegee 9–1–21st
1934 Tuskegee 6–5–1W Prairie View
1935 Tuskegee 8–4
1936 Tuskegee 7–51stW Prairie View
1937 Tuskegee 6–3–1
1938 Tuskegee 1–7–2L Prairie View
1939 Tuskegee 3–7
1940 Tuskegee 5–4
1941 Tuskegee 8–2L Orange Blossom Classic
1942 Tuskegee 7–3L Vulcan
1943 Tuskegee 9–2–11stW Vulcan
1944 Tuskegee 6–4–1L Vulcan
1945 Tuskegee 6–6–1L Prairie View
1946 Tuskegee 10–2L Yam Bowl
1947 Tuskegee 6–4–1
1948 Tuskegee 4–4–1
1949 Tuskegee 4–6
1950 Tuskegee 2–5–2
1951 Tuskegee 6–35–3T–7th
1952 Tuskegee 2–6–2
1953 Tuskegee 2–6–2
1954 Tuskegee 3–5–1
Tuskegee: 206–99–27
Total:206–99–27

See also

References
  1. The Afro American January 27, 1940 Archived January 30, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  2. The College on the Hill, a Sense of South Dakota State University History, Dunkle and Smith, 2003
  3. The Fayetteville Observer "Negro Gridiron Circuit is Popular" October 25, 1939
  4. Baltimore Afro-American "Looking 'em Over" November 2, 1946
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