This collection contains newspaper clippings on the running career of Ellison "Tarzan" Brown and his trainer Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 19 newspaper and magazine clippings collected by Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr. on the career of Ellison "Tarzan" Brown, whom he trained. There are also four newspaper clippings on Salimeno as a trainer. Additionaly included is a scrapbook of clippings compiled by Salimeno's friend and local sports writer George Falcone in 1987.
Arrangement:
Content is arranged in one series. Clippings are in chronological order followed by a scrapbook that is mostly undated.
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown, also called Deerfoot by the Narragansett, was born on September 22, 1913, to Otis Brown (1879-1943) and Grace Babcock (1876-1935) in Westerly, Rhode Island. He was a very athletic kid, always running and climbing. Brown first met Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr. when he was 12 years old after following another Narragansett runner on a professional training run. Salimeno was impressed with Tarzan's ability to keep up and promised to train him once he turned 16. After the pair started working together, Brown won many footraces, and he would sell the trophies or prizes in order to support his family and community. In 1936, Brown won the Boston Marathon ahead of the favored winner John Kelly after passing him on a downhill stretch, which caused the hill to become famously known as "heartbreak hill." The win also brought much needed attention to the Narragansett nation, who were fighting for recognition after Rhode Island Supreme Court claimed to detribalize them. Brown would go on to win the Boston Marathon again in 1939 and was chosen for the U.S. Olympic team in 1936 and 1940. His athletic skill led him to be inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. Brown was married to Ethel Wilcox (1919-2015) and they had 4 children. He passed away August 23, 1975.
Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno:
Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno was born March 14, 1900. He owned a café in Westerly and was also an athlete trainer, promoter, and manager for boxers and runners. He was a prominent figure in local and semi-pro sports due to his vast knowledge of the subject and training success. He passed away May 30, 1987
Provenance:
Gift of Anna Brown-Jackson, 2023
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Valerie Jaudon, 2009 Oct. 8-Dec. 22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Correspondence between Peter Fuller, Andre Emmerich, and Clement Greenberg; correspondence with Nuala O'Faolain; Greenberg family letters; and additional individual letters from a variety of correspondents are access restricted. Written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
The Clement Greenberg papers, 1937-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the digitization of the papers was provided in part by The Walton Family Foundation.
