William H. J. Beckett

William H. J. Beckett
Biographical details
Born	1882; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	March 15, 1954 (aged 71); St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma mater	International YMCA (BA, 1906) ; Pennsylvania (MA)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1917	Howard
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1917	Howard
Head coaching record
Overall	0–4

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	Conference	Standing
Howard Bison (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1917)
1917	Howard	0–4	0–3	4th
Howard:		0–4	0–3
Total:		0–4

References

^ "William Beckett Obituary in St. Lois Argus". digitalcommonwealth.org. March 13, 1954. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
^ "Tarbell Medallion Recipients". Springfield College. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
^ Logan, Rayford W. (1969). Howard University: the First Hundred Years, 1867-1967. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814702635. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
^ "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 .

[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 .

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