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from the issue of February 24, 2005
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A Piece of University History
The first African-American man to play football for the University of Nebraska was George A. Flippin. When he took to the gridiron in 1891, he was one of just five African American players nationwide. He was born in Ohio in 1868 and moved with his father, Dr. Charles Flippin, to Nebraska. Charles Flippin was a freed slave who fought in the Civil War.
George Flippin attended the University of Nebraska from 1891-1894. He was a remarkable football player, a "plunging" halfback on the gridiron, In 1892 he was made team captain and was on the first team to travel out of the state. Lincoln Journal sports editor, Cy Sherman, described Flippin as a "charged bull, into which was bred the tenacity of the bulldog, the ferocity of the tiger and the gameness of the man who knows no fear."
In 1892 the University of Missouri team refused to play Nebraska unless Flippin was benched; Nebraska refused and Missouri ended up forfeiting the game.
Flippin was a favorite of students and faculty alike. He used his considerable speaking skills to win the oratorical contest of the Palladian Literary Society, for which he also served as president. After graduating from the University of Nebraska in 1896 Flippin attended the University of Illinois College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, receiving his M.D. in 1900. He returned to Stromsburg, Neb., opened its first hospital in 1907 and practiced medicine until his death May 15, 1929.
Flippin filed Nebraska's first civil rights lawsuit - against a York café where he was refused service.
In 1974 Flippin was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame as he was the first African-American to play for the Cornhuskers.
Editor's Note: This weekly feature examines a historical point in the University of Nebraska's past. This week's feature was contributed by University Libraries' Archives. To contribute a feature or suggest an idea, call 472-8844.
GO TO: ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 24
NEWS HEADLINES FOR FEBRUARY 24
Shapiro's stories about American Jews basis for film
Real Nebraska night at the movies March 3
Research Service-Learning connects students with communities
A Piece of University History
Celebration of Graduate Student Work is March 4
Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Symposium looks at collectors, museums and artists
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