What does a majestic oak tree on the campus of James Ford Rhodes High School have to do with Olympic gold medalist, Jesse Owens, and why is it featured prominently in Cyprien Gaillard’s Nightlife, currently on view in MOCA’s Mueller Gallery? The tree was given to Owens by Adolf Hitler after Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Owens planted one tree at Rhodes, where it still stands today, a largely forgotten monument. Join luminary Cleveland sports journalist and Olympic historian, Bill Livingston as he talks with Tyrone Owens, cousin of Jesse Owens and former longtime Track and Field Coach at James Ford Rhodes High School, about the power and complexities of Owens’s post-Olympics experience and legacy.

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