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Guide to the the Proverb Jacobs Papers
MS 186
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Title: Guide to the Proverb Jacobs papers
Dates: circa 1920s-2012
Collection number: MS 186
Creator:
Jacobs Jr., Proverb.
Collection Size:
1 linear feet
(2 boxes + 2 oversized folders)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: Proverb Jacobs (1935-2016), professional football player from 1958-1964 and Laney College Athletics Director, was born Proverb
Jacobs Jr. in Marksville, Louisiana, on May 25, 1935. The Proverb Jacobs Papers include newspaper clippings, souvenir programs,
correspondence, curriculum vitae, handwritten notes, pamphlets, photographs, ephemera, and assorted material documenting Jacob's
football and teaching career.
Physical location: African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the Proverb Jacobs Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Proverb Jacobs Papers, MS 186, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Biography / Administrative History
Proverb Jacobs (1935-2016) was born Proverb Jacobs Jr. in Marksville, Louisiana, on May 25, 1935. He was a year old when his
family relocated to West Oakland as part of the great migration leaving the American South in search of economic opportunity.
His father had been a “stump-barber” in Louisiana, so called for the practice of using stumps for barber chairs, and was the
first to break the color barrier at Moler Barber College. Jacobs attended Oakland Technical High School, where he became the
school’s football and track star in the early 1950s, earning all-city honors in both sports.
After graduating Oakland Technical High School Jacobs played college football at Modesto Junior College under head football
and track and field coach Stan Pavko, becoming 1954 Big Seven Conference Champion and receiving All-Conference and All-Northern
California honors. In January 1956 he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, at the recruitment of head coach
Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf to play as a starter. As one of five African Americans on the football team, Jacobs studied Physical
Education and worked for the Associated Students of the University of California. In 1958 Jacobs was selected to play in the
College Football All-Star Game under Pete Elliott’s Cal squad and named as a guard to the United Press All-Pacific-Coast Conference
team.
He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive and defensive lineman in the second round of the 1958 National Football
League draft. After his first season Jacobs was called to serve six months active duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was then
recruited by the New York Giants, where he played during the 1960 season, followed by the New York Titans in 1961. In the
spring semester of 1963 Jacobs was readmitted to the University of California, Berkeley, to finish his undergraduate degree
and signed with the Oakland Raiders as a lineman.
On August 21, 1963, when the Raiders were scheduled in an exhibition game at Mobile, Alabama's segregated Ladd Stadium, Jacobs,
along with Art Powell, was one of six players to take a stand against playing. Wide-receiver Powell had played alongside Jacobs
with the Titans and had taken numerous boycotts against the segregation of African American players in the team's gameday
housing. After raising objections with Al Davis, the Raiders’ coach and general manager, the preseason game was cancelled
and subsequently moved to Oakland.
During the period of 1958-1964, Jacobs worked off-season as a group counselor for the Alameda County Probation Department
at the Juvenile Reception Center. Due to his work with youth and inspired by coaches at McClymonds High School (Oakland, California),
Jacobs decided to leave professional sports and work towards a Special Secondary Credential in Physical Education at San Francisco
State University, beginning his teaching and coaching career in 1964. After receiving his degree at San Francisco State in
1968, Jacobs went on complete a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. While there he wrote articles
that appeared in Scholastic Coach Magazine, Track and Field and the Athletic Journal.
In 1968 Jacobs began working at Laney College as a physical education instructor and coach, serving as Director of Men’s Physical
Education from 1970 to 1971, head Track and Field coach from 1975 to 1978, and becoming Athletic Director in 1982. He remained
at Laney for more than 30 years teaching physical education, mathematics, political science, and the sociology of sports.
As Athletic Director, Jacobs was instrumental in obtaining a women's track program for the school. Other career highlights
at Laney included coaching James Robinson, dominant American 800 meters runner from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. Robinson
ran in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team that did not compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics
boycott protesting the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Other notable highlights included assisting with coaching the Northern California Semi-Pro Football League San Jose Apaches
during the 1967 season, and scouting for the San Francisco 49ers from 1979-1985 under life-long friend and coach Bill Walsh.
Jacobs was instrumental in helping develop the 49ers' winning roster during the 1982 XVI Super Bowl. Walsh would later dedicate
his book, Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers, to Jacobs.
After retiring from teaching in 2005 Jacobs began work on his memoir. Self-published in 2014, Autobiography of an Unknown
Football Player, is a monumental, two-volume (1681 pp) autobiography answering his granddaughter’s question of where their
family came from. The book follows Jacobs' life and accomplishments against a background of American history and the radical
changes of the twentieth century. In it he relates the Jacobs family lineage and family biographies, the vast social changes
that marked his youth in Oakland, his experiences as an African American professional football player, and his career coaching
Laney College athletes and mentoring youth.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Proverb Jacobs Papers include newspaper clippings, souvenir programs, correspondence, curriculum vitae, handwritten notes,
pamphlets, photographs, ephemera, and assorted material documenting Jacob's football and teaching career. The papers also
include genealogical research and material collected and produced during the writing of Jacobs' 2014 self-published autobiography,
Autobiography of an Unknown Football Player. The papers are organized in five series: I. Biographical Material II. Football
career III. Laney College IV. Autobiography of an Unknown Football Player V. Assorted material.
Series I. Biographical Material Series II. Football career Series III. Laney College Series IV. Autobiography of an Unknown
Football Player Series V. Assorted material.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
African American coaches (Athletics)
African American college teachers--California--Oakland
African American football players.
Autobiography--African American authors.
New York Giants (Football team)--People--1950-1960.
New York Titans (Football team)
Oakland Raiders (Football team)--People.
Philadelphia Eagles (Football team)--People.
San Francisco 49ers (Football team)