PBS to premiere Major Taylor documentary, chronicling triumphs and challenges of the renowned Black track champion

PBS is set to debut a new cycling documentary on February 26, chronicling the extraordinary life of Marshall “Major” Taylor. The renowned Black track cyclist shattered over 20 world records amid the oppressive backdrop of racial discrimination in America's Jim Crow Era.

Independent from the Major Taylor motion picture currently in production, the documentary, titled Major Taylor: Champion of the Race is narrated by celebrated opera mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson with jazz musician Branford Marsalis reading and interpreting quotes from Taylor. Five-time Emmy Award-winning musician Tyron Cooper created the soundtrack for the film.

Insight and commentary from acclaimed historians, athletes and activists is a key part of the documentary, too, and includes interviews with people such as Monica Garrison, president of Black Girls Do Bike; Edwin Moses, two-time track and field Olympic gold medalist in track and field; and Richard Lapchick, president of the Institute of Sport and Social Justice. 

Taylor was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1878. His father was a coachman for a wealthy white family, and the family gifted Taylor a bike in the late 1880s. In the early 1890s, he was hired by a local bike shop to perform bike tricks and stunts outside the shop as a marketing ploy. He did so in a soldier costume, earning him the nickname “Major Taylor.”

He quickly took to cycling and won his first cycling race in 1892. Taylor then moved to the east coast and continued to hone his cycling abilities. In August 1896, Taylor broke his first world record at a track cycling race back home in Indiana. However, due to racial prejudice, his record was not formally recognized at the time. 

Taylor was not deterred and continued to race across the country and rack up records over the next five years. Internationally, Taylor earned his first world championship title in 1899 by winning the one-mile sprint competition in Montreal. This made Taylor the world’s second Black world athletic champion - the first being American boxer George Dixon in 1890. 

It was not until 1900 that Taylor was allowed to compete in the American National Championship cycling series and was crowned American Sprint Champion. 

Taylor continued to race all over the world into the early 1900s, including races in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. He retired at age 32 and was suffered illnesses and unsuccessful business ventures before writing his autobiography “The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World” in 1928. 

In his autobiography, Taylor describes how there was no shortage of racial discrimination against him on the world cycling stage. Some cyclists refused to compete against him, some races refused to let him compete and when he did race, his competitors often aimed to jostle or bump Taylor in an attempt to make him fall, crash or lose. 

In the foreword of his autobiography, Taylor shares that he continued to race and to ultimately pen his book to serve as an inspiration for other Black athletes - but also noted the mental and physical exhaustion that came with being a Black athlete amid so much prejudice was a large part of his reason to retire.

Taylor passed away at age 52 and his grave remains at Mount Glenwood Cemetery in Illinois. 

Major Taylor: Champion of the Race premieres on WTIU PBS at 8 p.m. ET on February 26 and can be viewed again on the same channel on March 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET and March 10 at 6:30 p.m. ET.