[Mystic Stamp Company, 2004]
Wilma Rudolph accomplished much throughout her lifetime, one of her first being overcoming polio, but she felt that fighting for equality was her biggest achievement. In 1963, she was selected to be an ambassador in Dakar, Senegal. She was invited to the White House by five presidents: John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, and Bill Clinton, who honored her with the prestigious National Sports Award, making her the only woman to win this award.
“I would be disappointed if I were remembered as a runner because I feel that my contribution to the youth of America has far exceeded the woman who was the Olympic champion.”
- Wilma Rudolph
[Amazing Women in History]
[Getty Images, 2004]
"Those medals let me go places where I probably would not have been able to go, to the White House to meet the late President John F. Kennedy; to lavish banquets."
- Wilma Rudolph
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Fraternal Order of Eagles Archive
Associated Press