Before Jackie Robinson, there was Thomas Harding

Thomas Harding rushes for a touchdown against Washington & Jefferson. Harding earned eight athletic letters while at Butler before graduating in 1940. Photo courtesy of IndyStar.

DREW FAVAKEH | CO-SPORTS EDITOR | dfavakeh@butler.edu

When Linda Harding was 13, she read an article that detailed the racism her father faced when he was a star at Butler University in the late 1930s.

On the bus that took the Bulldog team to the games, her dad, Thomas Harding had to hide — under blankets, beneath the seats, in the back of the bus — so onlookers couldn’t see the only Black player on the team.

Linda was surprised. So, she asked him about it.

“He said, ‘Well you know, honey, things have become so much…