About Major Taylor

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American bicycle racer Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (1878-1932) was the world's first black sports superstar and a remarkable cycling champion. He became the world cycling champion in 1899, won the American sprint championship in 1900, and set numerous track cycling records. Nicknamed Major in his youth in Indianapolis and later known as the Worcester Whirlwind after his adopted hometown in Massachusetts, he was the second African American world champion in any sport (after Canadian-born bantamweight boxer George Dixon of Boston won his title in 1891). During the Jim Crow era of strict racial segregation, this pioneering bicycle racer had to combat prejudice just to get on the starting line. He faced closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity. In his retirement, Major Taylor wrote his autobiography, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.