The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Took city by storm
“A recent news item about Africanamerican boxing legend Jack Johnson being granted a postumous pardon by President Donald Trump for a jail conviction in 1913 revived memories of his links with Dundee,” writes Fraser Elder.
“In October 1911, while world champion, he was inducted as a Freemason in Dundee – later ruled illegal. However, it was his return to the city in a later visit while living in exile in Europe, dodging imprisonment, which created the biggest impact.
“Johnson, known as the Galveston Giant, was booked for exhibition shows at the King’s Theatre and, coupled with intrigues about his personal life, he took the city by storm over a seven day period. Queues formed every morning to make certain of seats for the first house matinee and by late afternoon crowds were gathering in the Cowgate for the evening show.
“The highlight of each show was an exhibition ‘boxing bout’ with a diminutive character named Tommy Dodds who stood just four feet tall.
“While researching Johnson’s visit for The Courier 1964 series The Golden Age of Dundee Theatres, I tracked down several boxing fans who endeavoured to attend every show and one recalled: ‘I will never forget seeing him strolling down King Street. He was a huge man wearing clothes we had never seen the like of before. His mouth flashed gold teeth and his hands were covered with rings. A huge crowd followed him everywhere and little wonder as he was the great Jack Johnson. Even at the present time there has been nothing to match the hero worship which swept through Dundee for Johnson.’
“The charismatic Johnson returned to the USA in 1920 to serve a year-long prison sentence and died at the age of 68 in Carolina in 1946.”