Johnny Russaw: Student, Athlete, Trailblazer

Happy Juneteenth! And welcome to Community History 365! CH365 tells stories from Johnson City's rich multicultural history, stories you've probably never heard. This month we hear from Johnny Russaw, the first black student to play football at East Tennessee State University.But today's story rewinds to before ETSU was even on Johnny's mind. He grew up watching Langston greats play football, and he always wanted to play on the team (although he had other aspirations too). In this episode, you'll hear about all that and about the difficult decision Johnny had to make in 1964.  So far this season of CH365 has covered a lot of Langston history---from its founding to its closing to its rehabilitation. For the next few episodes, we zoom in to what it was like to be a student at Langston. ---- CH365 is a production of the Langston Centre Media Lab- Host: Karen Sullivan- Producers: Kelvin Scott & Isaac Wood- Writer: Isaac Wood- Mix and Master: Kelvin Scott- Multicultural Engagement Manager for the Langston Centre: Adam Dickson- Thank you to LEAD and to the City of Johnson City’s Parks and Recreation Department for supporting Community History 365. - Many thanks to Johnny Russaw, Evelyn Fields Debro, and Angelo Newman for sharing their stories.- Thank you to the Community History 365 History Task Force for giving their collaboration and expertise.- Thank you to the Langston Centennial Annual Staff who put together a wonderful book of Langston history in 1992. This book helped out a lot with this episode. - The Community History 365 theme song is called “Feels Good to Be” and comes from audionautix.comNewspaper Articles- "Langston Opens Season At Greeneville Thursday" - Johnson City Press-Chronicle - 1958-8-31RecordingsMarching band music and sound effects from freesound.org:- marchingband2.wav by nfrae -- https://freesound.org/s/195370/ -- License: Creative Commons 0- Parade Drums by SoundsAreGr8 -- https://freesound.org/s/340935/ -- License: Creative Commons 0- High School Marching Band 01.wav by thepodcastdoctor -- https://freesound.org/s/486664/ -- License: Creative Commons 0- Stadium Crowd by stomachache -- https://freesound.org/s/274516/ -- License: Creative Commons 0- Crowd Cheering - Strong Cheering 1.wav by GregorQuendel -- https://freesound.org/s/481776/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 ---Community History 365 is supported by LEAD (Langston Education and Arts Development), a nonprofit created by Langston High School alumni. Seeking to preserve the school building’s integrity, legacy, and historical value, the alumni formed LEAD which helped the building open up as the Langston Centre. This multicultural facility serves the community as part of the City of Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department.