"National-Socialist Germany, the sports people": Konigsberger Zeitung, Konigsberger Zeitung, June 21, 1938. June 21, 1938.

"Germany's best-known radio announcer": 8 Uhr-Blatt, 8 Uhr-Blatt, June 20,1938. June 20,1938.

"Nothing but a dumb accident": Angriff, Angriff, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"the primitive nature-boy": Der Kicker, Der Kicker, June 21,1938. June 21,1938.

"I'm just afraid that Schmeling"; "Schmeling will do it": Angriff, Angriff, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"Not a train pulled to a stop": United Press, June 20,1938.

"Who's he gonna fight?": Associated Press, Associated Press, June 20,1938. June 20,1938.

"Louis Victory Special": Associated Negro Press, Associated Negro Press, May 25,1938. May 25,1938.

"I can count on the fingers of one hand": Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta Daily World, June 20,1938. June 20,1938.

attendance at Aqueduct racetrack was of "holiday proportions": New York Sun, New York Sun, June 23, 1938. June 23, 1938.

"As jittery as a bridegroom": Washington Post, Washington Post, June 22,1938. June 22,1938.

"Not even General Washington": Associated Negro Press, Associated Negro Press, June 20,1938. June 20,1938.

"From her bag, she drew an old": New York World-Telegram, New York World-Telegram, June 21,1938. June 21,1938.

"Of course, after the fight, there will be a rush": Norfolk Journal and Guide, Norfolk Journal and Guide, June 25, 1938. June 25, 1938.

"It is a grab in the dark": New York Sun, New York Sun, June 22,1938. June 22,1938.

"the fight nobody knows anything about": Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 22,1938. June 22,1938.

Chapter Thirteen: The Fight.

"To the next world's champion": Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"Creole fashion plate": New York Mirror, New York Mirror, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"I ain't going to take my pants off": New York Sun, New York Sun, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"as emotionless as the corner of a house": New York Daily News, New York Daily News, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"I'm gonna finish this one in a hurry": Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Courier, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"not only a menace to his fighter": Knickerbocker News, Knickerbocker News, June 17,1938. June 17,1938.

"We'd better let the champ rest": Chicago Daily News, Chicago Daily News, September 11,1964. September 11,1964.

"I'm goin' out and fight three rounds": New York Daily News, New York Daily News, July 1,1938. July 1,1938.

"I did all I could": Fried, Corner Men, Corner Men, p. 148. p. 148.

June 22 would be "very disappointing": Knickerbocker News, Knickerbocker News, June 16,1938. June 16,1938.

JOE LOUIS, WORLD'S CHAMPION; "We were in the land": Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"step on it": Roy Wilkins, Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins (New York: Viking Press, 1982), p. 164. (New York: Viking Press, 1982), p. 164.

"The crowd simply carried you through the gates": Afro-American and Richmond Planet, Afro-American and Richmond Planet, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"Usually a sports event": Original flyer, collection of author.

"I'd like to see Joe Louis blast": Daily Worker, Daily Worker, June 22,1938. June 22,1938.

"seemed electrically charged": Interview, Lester Rodney.

"A Gatsby sort of atmosphere": Interview, Babs Simpson.

"rich Harlem Negroes": Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"A sea of faces": Afro-American and Richmond Planet, Afro-American and Richmond Planet, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"in an unreal gray haze": Box-Sport, Box-Sport, July 11, 1938. July 11, 1938.

the largest radio audience: Radio Guide, Radio Guide, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"listened in at car doors, trucks, stores, hotels": Pacific, Pacific, January 1946. January 1946.

"Let's not have speaking now": Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"To my father": Mobile Register, Mobile Register, June 13,1938. June 13,1938.

"to show she was absolutely composed": Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Courier, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"could come and root for Joe": Chicago Defender, Chicago Defender, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"championship ball" for blacks in Brooklyn: New York Age, New York Age, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"The world will hold you responsible": Emilio Azcarraga to John F. Royal, June 18, 1938, in NBC papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.

"should a Negro defeat a Fascist": Chicago Daily News, Chicago Daily News, June 6,1938. June 6,1938.

"There was no doubt whatsoever": Haynt Haynt (Warsaw), June 24,1938. (Warsaw), June 24,1938.

"Shvartser Bombardier": Sport-tsaytung Sport-tsaytung (Warsaw), June 28,1938. (Warsaw), June 28,1938.

"Behind the windows in almost every apartment": Angriff, Angriff, June 24,1938. June 24,1938.

"the murderous American heat": Ibid., June 22,1938.

"Hallo Berlin ... Hallo Deutschland": All Hellmis quotes from the 1938 fight are taken from the English-language translation found in the NBC papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society. No version of the German original survives; the German used in this and subsequent quotations is my best guess of what Hellmis said. All Hellmis quotes from the 1938 fight are taken from the English-language translation found in the NBC papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society. No version of the German original survives; the German used in this and subsequent quotations is my best guess of what Hellmis said.

"You'll need only one": Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis Recorder, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"Don't make a sucker out of me": Ring, Ring, March 1950. March 1950.

"a Nazi son-of-a-bitch": Richard Bak, Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope (Da Capo Press: New York, 1998), p. 163. (Da Capo Press: New York, 1998), p. 163.

"prancing and dancing as a Man O' War": Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Tribune, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"No challenger in memory": New Orleans Item, New Orleans Item, June 27,1938. June 27,1938.

"the picture of suavity": Boston Post, Boston Post, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"Do you hear the booing?": Hellmis transcript, NBC papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.

"Listen to this booing": Herbert Swope to David Sarnoff, June 24, 1938, in NBC papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.

"the biggest Bronx cheer": Associated Press, June 21,1938.

"saw fit to give Schmeling": Chicago Defender, Chicago Defender, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"wrinkled his forehead like a washboard": News of the World News of the World (London), June 26,1938. (London), June 26,1938.

"Unchain them!"; "Kill that Nazi, Joe!": Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Courier, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"It seemed that each man and woman": New Masses, New Masses, July 5,1938. July 5,1938.

"nervous and jumpy as a doped race horse": Ken, Ken, July 28,1938. July 28,1938.

"They've got that guy hopped up": New Orleans Item, New Orleans Item, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"This is the million-dollar thrill of sports": Newark Star-Eagle, Newark Star-Eagle, June 22,1938. June 22,1938.

"One hundred and sixty thousand knees": Amsterdam Recorder, Amsterdam Recorder, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"a silence, like the calm of Heaven": Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Tribune, June 30,1938. June 30,1938.

"Fourteen million brown men, women and children": Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Courier, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"Look out, Joe!": Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Constitution, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"bobbed up and down": New York Mirror, New York Mirror, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"These folks at once sensed another victory": Chicago Defender, Chicago Defender, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"The Negro swung, hooked": Ken, Ken, July 28,1938. July 28,1938.

"Oh! oh!": New York Sun, New York Sun, June 23, 1938; June 23, 1938; "Genug! Genug!": New York Daily News, "Genug! Genug!": New York Daily News, June 24,1938. June 24,1938.

"I thought in my mind": New York Times, New York Times, November 10, 1948. November 10, 1948.

"Did you hear that?": Interview, Larry Kent.

"half human, half animal": Wilson, Boxing's Greatest Prize Boxing's Greatest Prize (London: S. Paul, 1980), p. 25. (London: S. Paul, 1980), p. 25.

"Sweetest music I ever heard": Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Tribune, June 30,1938. June 30,1938.

"Hitler's wilted pet": Daily Worker, Daily Worker, June 24,1938. June 24,1938.

"like a spinning wheel": Haynt Haynt (Warsaw), June 24,1938. (Warsaw), June 24,1938.

"like the shrieking of a mother": Prager Mittag, Prager Mittag, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"Impossible!": New York World-Telegram, New York World-Telegram, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"With each blow": Ibid.

"Laughter roared through the land": Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Courier, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"A red drool dribbled": Boston Evening American, Boston Evening American, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"to smash it like a baseball bat": New York Herald Tribune, New York Herald Tribune, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"a pale study in vicarious suffering": Boston Post, Boston Post, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"like a seagull": Sunday Pictorial Sunday Pictorial (London), June 26,1938. (London), June 26,1938.

"Schmeling was no longer": Liberty, Liberty, May 23,1942. May 23,1942.

"water ran past the corners": New York World-Telegram, New York World-Telegram, June 23,1938. June 23,1938.

"He was-for the first time": New Orleans Item, New Orleans Item, June 27,1938. June 27,1938.

"I told you so": Denis Brian, Tallulah, Darling: A Biography of Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah, Darling: A Biography of Tallulah Bankhead (New York: Macmillan, 1980), p. 84 (New York: Macmillan, 1980), p. 84 "The happiest people I saw": Associated Negro Press, June 29,1938.

"Wasn't it swell?": Baltimore Afro-American, Baltimore Afro-American, July 2,1938. July 2,1938.

"My daddy told me": Chicago Defender, Chicago Defender, June 25,1938. June 25,1938.

"Beat the hell out of the damn": Rayford W. Logan, "William Edward Burghardt Du Bois," speech delivered at Howard University, June 5,1968, Rayford W. Logan Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. For this, I am indebted to Professor Kenneth Janken of the University of North Carolina.

"Everybody danced and sang": Pacific, Pacific, January 1946. January 1946.