Let's go down memory lane today and take a look at Charles W. Major Sr. The high success rate of Bahamian athletes at institutions in the United States is now quite common. Hundreds of Bahamian athletes from a variety of sporting disciplines obtain scholarships annually and go on to become healthy contributors to powerful programs at high school and college levels in the United States. It was Major Sr. who blazed the trail and set the bar literally high for other fellow native islanders to strive for on the competitive stage in the great United States.
Around the year 1917 when Charlie Major Sr. was a mere 13-years-old or so, his family left the homestead in Fowler Street off the Eastern District and headed on a steamer to New York. Major Sr. often told me about the many different emotions that stirred in him during the voyage. There was of course great uncertainty, some fear, that later abated and transformed into much excitement as he "kind of entered a new world" when the ship had left The Bahamas days behind in its wake. Landing on a New York dock was "an out of this world experience for me," Major Sr. readily acknowledged.
I always understood and admired the man immensely for his ability to evolve from an innocent, under-exposed Bahamian lad to one of the most influential sports figures on the collegiate/university scenes in the United States during the 1920s, and the 1930s. There are still many Bahamians around who remember him as an athletics coach/trainer, but more recall his pioneer activities in bringing big time professional boxing and wrestling to the country and his foresight to establish the Nassau Stadium.
That was when he decided to return home "for good" during the 1940s, leaving the land of influence and affluence for the lowly islands of The Bahamas. He wanted to begin developing a base for the kind of achievements in the future, (of Bahamian athletes in the United States), that he proved able to attain. He demonstrated his athletic worth in grand style. A proclamation in his honor made by Governor Hugh L. Carey of the state of New York in 1979 captures what a significant pioneer Major Sr. was for The Bahamas: "In the late 1920s, Charles W. Major coached the small St. Bonaventure College track team to national prominence.... a team which boasted distance runners who won silver medals in junior cross country competitions.
"He coached so brilliantly and took enough of his own advice to become one of St. Bonaventure's most talented and heralded student-athletes, winning national honors as an amateur high jump champion, defeating the reigning Olympic gold medalist in that competition, and capturing honors as a broad jumper and pole vaulter, before graduating in 1934. "Later he brought new contributions to sports through his promotion of boxing. In 1969, he was named among the first athletes inducted into St. Bonaventure's Hall of Fame, and his athletic achievements were given broad recognition. Since the days of his athletic brilliance, in a variety of endeavors and through his storied ability as a trainer, Charles W. Major won a host of friends and made rich contributions to sports, both amateur and professional.
"Now, therefore, I, Hugh l. Carey, Governor of the state of New York, in observance of Charles W. Major's 75th birthday, do hereby proclaim April 17, 1979 as 'Charles W. Major Day' in New York State. Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the state at the Capitol in the City of Albany this 12th day of April in the year of Our Lord, 1979, when the pen hereunder affixed was used by me in signing this proclamation." That was quite official and historic for The Bahamas! Indeed, Charles W. Major Sr. was the one who led the way for the many other sons and daughters who followed through the decades and enhanced the Bahamian sports power image with their exploits in the United States. (To respond to column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com)
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