Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • BBC History Magazine

    LETTERS

    Oct 28, 2021 4 minutes

    LETTER OF THE MONTH

    Fighting prejudice

    As an ex-amateur boxer, I was interested in the reference to black American world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in Prejudice on the Pitch (October). My great uncle Alan fought Johnson in Portsmouth on 11 June 1908. Because of Home Office interference, only a “demonstration” bout was permitted – so although a huge crowd attended, the gate money was modest. Johnson took the lot. Ex-mercenary Alan was satisfied to enter the record books.

    Perhaps of equal interest is George Dixon, the first black boxer to be awarded a world title in 1890. He arrived in Britain claiming to be the world bantamweight champion, but

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from BBC History Magazine

    BBC History Magazine10 min read
    Banished. Exiled. Died… Widowed. Berated. Survived.
    THEY ARE INVISIBLE BUT INDISPENSABLE. Unremarked, yet always there. Tudor ladies-in-waiting have long been depicted as mere ‘scenery’ in books, plays and films about the 16th century, a backdrop of pretty faces. This is accurate – to a point. A queen
    BBC History Magazine2 min read
    Dramatic Tales
    In November 1682, bodies pressed into Westminster Hall for the trial of Lord Grey, who stood accused of seducing his teenage sister-in-law Henrietta Berkeley into “whoredom and adultery”. Those hoping for theatrics were not disappointed: she arrived,
    BBC History Magazine6 min read
    Anniversaries
    But Nan Winton faces prejudice When Nancy Wigginton – better known by her professional name, Nan Winton – appeared on the nation’s television sets on 20 June 1960, she became the first woman to present the national news on the BBC. The corporation’s

    Related Books & Audiobooks