Best of Dick Wolfsie: Steve Towns shares family legacy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Each and every week Dick Wolfsie shares an interesting and unique story that has a special connection to central Indiana.
This week, we continue our “Best of Dick Wolfsie” series with a story Dick did in 2016 during Black History Month.
Dick talked to Steve Towns, the great grandson of Daniel Lang Jr., a graduate of the medical school at Dartmouth University and one of the nation’s first African American physicians.
“I had kind of heard stories of my great-great-grandfather but never realized the historical significance of what was going on,” said Towns. “I Googled his name and up pops Daniel Lang Jr. and as it turns out Daniel Lang initially started medical school in 1850 at Harvard with two other African Americans.”
Towns is also the grandson of NFL Hall of Game halfback and head coach Fritz Pollard.
“He was the first African American in the Rose Bowl, he was the first African American to play quarterback,” said Towns. “He was the first African American head coach in the NFL and the first African American to be admitted into the College Football Hall of Fame.”
Dick also talked to Towns a few years prior and found out more about Towns’ family history.
Click the videos to learn more.