On October 20, 1951, Drake University faced Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup at Lewis Field in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Drake's star halfback Johnny Bright, the nation's leading rusher and a Heisman Trophy finalist, and one of the first Black players to compete against Oklahoma A&M, was repeatedly targeted by Oklahoma A&M defensive tackle Wilbanks Smith. Smith struck Bright with his fist on three separate plays, breaking Bright's jaw on a play where he wasn't even carrying the ball. A Des Moines Register photographer captured the sequence in a series of images that would later win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography, providing rare visual proof of the racially motivated assault.
The incident, now known as the Johnny Bright Incident, led to major reforms in college football, including new rules on facemasks and roughing penalties, and remains a landmark moment in the history of race relations in American sports.
This program offers a firsthand look at how the
