A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
In 1925, Sol made a brief appearance in baseball’s Negro Leagues, pitch- ing professionally for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1925, going 0-3. Return- ing to football, Sol played alongside Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs, where he was named starting quarterback in 1926. In 1926, the New York Giants refused to let its all-white team on the field in front of the greatest crowd to watch an NFL game until Canton with- draw Sol as starting quarterback. In 1927, Sol married. His presence on the athletic scene waned after the Olympics, but his life continued to revolve around sports. Sol moved back to the Midwest and went on to coach Black youth as recreation director of Chicago's Washington Park and YMCA. He also worked part-time as a proba- tionary officer, became a sports editor for the Chicago Bee and The Defender newspapers in Chicago. He was active in the Chicago Blackhawk alternative professional football team and began to become a well-known personality after appearing in movies and the press regularly. His wife died before they would have any children. While in California, he played for the Chicago All-Stars bas- ketball team, which he founded. Sol used his earnings to re-open Jack's Café owned by Jack Johnson, former heavyweight boxing champion in 1932. He was named to a key role in a film by Russ Sanders in 1935 being filmed in Hollywood, California, after playing mi- nor parts prior. He was signed by Oscar Devereaux Micheaux, an independent producer of more than 44 films, for Lin- coln Motion Picture Company. He and his brother Ben, sold cars, self- published a book on track and field, shined shoes, did anything they could to raise money. In his years after prohibi- tion, Sol owned nightclubs in Chicago, set up his own talent agency, and for a brief period, was in the record business representing singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.
Paddy's Tavern, a Chicago pub where he was employed as a bartender for seven years. Sol was slain by a man named Jimmie Hill, who reportedly had been annoying two female patrons. Sol ejected Hill, who returned with a gun and fatally shot the former star in the hip and chest. Butler died of his injuries at Chicago's Provident Hospital. His alma mater, the University of Dubuque, hosts an annual ‘Sol Butler Track and Field Classic’ indoor track meet. In May 2014, the University of Dubuque began awarding the Solomon Butler Character and Courage Award. Sol was also inducted into the Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame. In 2018, Sol was an inaugural inductee into the National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Butler during his 1920 Olympics track injury.
Butler Dubuque track awards.
He died on December 1, 1954, in
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Publishing achievement for more than 105 years
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