There’s a campaign to get Congressional recognition for Marshall “Major” Taylor, an early 20th century world-renowned African American professional cyclist.  

Taylor won his first bike race in 1890 and went on to become the first African American international sports hero and Black athlete to compete in open, integrated competitions.  

While becoming one of the wealthiest athletes of his time, Taylor was penniless later in life.  He lived at the Wabash Avenue YMCA in Chicago before he died at Cook County Hospital in 1932.

In 2007 Chicago created a “Major” Taylor Trail, including a 400-foot mural on the bridge over the Little Calumet River.  Now the Bronzeville Trail Task Force is planning a monument in Taylor’s honor.