page_title: Cleveland Abbott
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Cleveland Abbott / Life
caption_attribution_description: Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the Aquitania, enroute home from World War I service. Left to right: Lieutenant C.L. Abbot, South Dakota; Captain Joseph L. Lowe, Pacific Grove, California; Lieutenant Aaron R. Fisher, Lyles, Indiana, recipient of Distinguished Service Cross; Captain E. White, Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
context_page_description: Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott was an American football player, coach and educator. He was the head coach of the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team from 1923 to 1954.
context_section_description: Abbott was born in Yankton, South Dakota in 1894, one of seven children to Albert (aka Elbert) Abbott (1862 [born: Abbeyville, GA]-1952 [Death: Huron, SD]) and Mollie Brown Abbott (1868-1909).  Abbott attended and graduated from high school  1908-1912 Watertown, South Dakota. He Attended and then received his bachelor's degree 1912 - 1916 from South Dakota State College in Brookings, South Dakota. He was an outstanding, multi-sport athlete at Watertown High School (16 varsity sports letters) and SDSC (now SDSU) (14 varsity letters). Hired by Booker T. Washington in 1913 to be the Tuskegee Institute football coach and dairy instructor upon 1916 SDSC graduation. He joined the US Army in 1917 at Camp Dodge and mustered out in 1919. After serving in Europe in World War I as an officer in the 366th Infantry Regiment, Abbott taught at the Kansas Vocational School in Topeka, Kansas. In 1923, Abbott accepted a position as Athletic Director, professor and coach at Tuskegee.
  Abbott was the eighth head football coach for the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers located in Tuskegee, Alabama and he held that position for 32 seasons, from 1923 until 1954.
  Abbott earned the respect of his peers through his team's performance and by participating in national committees for the selection of "all-American" players at the collegiate level.
  First African American member of USA Track and Field Board about 1940. First African American member of the US Olympic Committee in 1946.
  Coach of first African American Olympic Gold Medal winner Alice Coachman, 1948. Coach to second African American Olympic Gold Medal winner Mildred McDaniel, 1956.
  Wife, Jessie Harriette Scott (born: 23 March 1897 Des Moines, Iowa, died: 12 August 1982 Tuskegee, Alabama) and daughter Jessie Ellen Abbott.
  Abbott died on April 17, 1955 in Tuskegee, Alabama.
  Cleveland Abbott inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame September 2018.
caption: Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service, Abbott at left