William H. J. Beckett
Biographical details
Born1882
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died(1954-03-15)March 15, 1954 (aged 71)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma materInternational YMCA (BA, 1906)
Pennsylvania (MA)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1917Howard
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1917Howard
Head coaching record
Overall0–4

William Henry Jackson Beckett (1882 – March 15, 1954) was an American football coach.

Springfield YMCA Training School

Becket was the first African American person to ever be awarded a degree at Springfield College–then known as the International YMCA Training School–in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1] He was awarded the school's Tarbell Medallion in 1947.[2]

Howard University

Beckett became the head football coach and first full-time athletic director at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1917.[3]

Late life and death

Beckett taught physical education at Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri for 35 years before retiring in 1954. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 15, 1954, at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis.[4]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Howard Bison (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1917)
1917 Howard 0–40–34th
Howard: 0–40–3
Total:0–4

References

  1. "William Beckett Obituary in St. Lois Argus". digitalcommonwealth.org. March 13, 1954. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  2. "Tarbell Medallion Recipients". Springfield College. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  3. Logan, Rayford W. (1969). Howard University: the First Hundred Years, 1867-1967. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814702635. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  4. "William Beckett Funeral; Active In Negro Recreation". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. March 16, 1954. p. 19. Retrieved October 25, 2019 via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
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