Englewood Makes History

Browse Items (17 total)

  • Wilt Chamberlain.jpg

    Wilt Chamberlain was a professional basketball player. He began his career in high school playing for Overbrook High School from 1953 to 1955. He went to the University of Kansas from 1956 to 1958. From 1958 to 1959 he played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He joined the NBA in 1959 and played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors until 1965. In the spring of 1960, Wilt Chamberlain shocked the sporting world when he announced his retirement from the NBA. The retirement ended up being a brief few months. When reporters asked him why he retired early, Chamberlain responded it was a combination of money and his rough treatment by opposing players. Chamberlain put together an All-Star team and began a barnstorming tour. When Chamberlain returned to the NBA in the summer of 1960 he signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Warriors for $375,000 making him the highest-paid athlete in American history in 1960. Wilt Chamberlain once described Sherman White as "his idol in high school." 
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  • John Amos.jpg

    John Allen Amos Jr. is an actor. Before his acting career, he did social work and played football. His first major work was on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970 to 1973. He is most well-known for his part in Good Times from 1974 to 1976. Amos served as artistic director of John Harms Theater. He married twice, first to Noel Mickelson from 1965 to 1975. He had two children, Shannon and Kelly "K.C." His second marriage was to Lillian Lehman from 1978 to 1979.
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  • Willie LaMorte.jpg

    William "Willie" LaMorte was a boxer and flyweight champion. He won the title on August 22, 1929, when he won a match against Izzy Schwartz. He held the title until his defeat on May 16, 1930, against Midget Walgast. He retired in 1931 and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1967. 

    He had three sons, Anthony P., Patrick W., and Salvatore F. 
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  • Joey Ross.jpg

    Joseph "Joey" Ross was a boxer from 1924 to 1932. His father, Joseph Ross Sr. was also a boxer.
  • Michael Gill.JPG

    Michael "Mickey" Gill was a boxer in the 1920s. He enlisted in the Army during World War II. He was killed in action in France on November 3, 1944. 
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  • Henry Robinson.jpg

    Henry Robinson was an All-County forward for the 1951 Championship Dwight Morrow Raiders Basketball Team. In 1951 he led the Raiders to the Group 3 State Championship. He was voted the MVP of the NJSIAA state tournament. He later became a detective for the Englewood Police Department.
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  • Sonny Mays The_Record_1930_09_03_16.jpg

    Sonny Mays was a light-heavyweight boxer in the 1930s from Englewood's "Little Texas," neighborhood. He was also a football player with the Palisades Park Eskimos. Mays was also the doorman for the popular black-owned Harlem-on-the-Hudson nightclub in Englewood Cliffs.
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  • Jack Dempsey.jpg

    Jack Dempsey was an American boxer from 1914 to 1927. He recieved his first world title in a bout against Jess Willard. He remained the heavyweight champion until he lost a match with Gene Tunney in 1926. 
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  • Jacob Taylor.jpg

    Jacob Taylor was a resident of Englewood and owner of Jake Taylor's Store. Taylor was also director of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America and executive secretary of the Bergen County Newsdealers and Stationers' Association. Taylor was active in sports and was the former high school football team captain. He was a member of the Congregation Ahavath Torah.

    He was married to Judith Levine. He had a son Fred, and a daughter Lynn.
  • Wille Mays.png

    Willie Howard Mays Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He began in the Negro American League with the Black Barons. He began playing in the Major Baseball League with the Giants in 1950. He was extremely decorated and is regarded as one of the best baseball players. 

    Willie Mays moved to Englewood in 1955. It was a short drive from his home in Englewood to the Polo Grounds in Harlem where he played for the New York Giants. He moved to San Francisco in 1957 when the Giants relocated.

    Mays married Marghuertite Wendell Chapman in 1956. He adopted a son, Micheal. He divorced Chapman in 1963. Mays married again in 1971 to Mae Louise Allen. He was the godfather of Barry Bonds, the son of Bobby Bonds.
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