Biographical Materials : African American Biographies

When Ed Temple headed off to college at what was then called Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University, he didn’t know what to expect. A Pennsylvania native, he had never before experienced life in the segregated South. Nevertheless, he stayed in Nashville following his graduation, landing a job as women’s track coach at his alma mater, now known as Tennessee State University. In a career lasting more than four decades, his Tigerbelle teams won 34 national titles. Forty of those women he coached competed in the Olympics, winning 23 medals.