‘Clinton can be proud of Duke’

CLINTON, Iowa – Frederick “Duke” Slater has returned to the city he called home. He is back in the city he loved and the place that helped turn him into a trailblazer in sports and the legal profession. At least, a life-sized bronze statue of Mr. Slater now stands next to Clinton High School as […]

CLINTON, Iowa – Frederick “Duke” Slater has returned to the city he called home. He is back in the city he loved and the place that helped turn him into a trailblazer in sports and the legal profession. At least, a life-sized bronze statue of Mr. Slater now stands next to Clinton High School as a way to honor the man, and perhaps inspire a new generation of athletes and scholars to follow in his footsteps.

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“He loved this city. … He was so proud to be a graduate of Clinton High School,” said Neal Rozendaal, author of the 2012 book “Duke Slater: Pioneering Black NFL PLayer and Judge,” and one of the people who helped make the dream of a Duke Slater statue in Clinton a reality. Mr. Rozendaal was one of more than 100 people who attended a ceremony on Friday evening, Sept. 6, to dedicate the new Duke Slater Memorial Statue. The statue is located in the Duke Slater Pocket Park at the intersection of South Ninth Street and Eighth Avenue South -- across the street from the high school. (Friday’s ceremony also featured a Grow Clinton ribbon-cutting ceremony.) The statue depicts a young Mr. Slater dressed in football gear from the early part of the 1900s. The bronzed figure faces the high school football field across the street. “I like this. His fists are clenched, chest pumped out and he’s ready to rock ‘n roll,” said Andy Sokolovich, president and CEO of Grow Clinton, during Friday’s ceremony as he looked at and described the posture of the Duke Slater statue. While many people may recognize Mr. Slater from his football accomplishments, Clinton  residents are quick to point out that the man accomplished many feats in his life. Mr. Slater was born in Normal, Illinois, and moved to Clinton in 1911. He led Clinton to two state football championships in 1913 and 1914. He attended the University of Iowa and joined the National Football League in 1922, where he became the first African-American lineman in NFL history. After his football career, he became an assistant district attorney and an assistant Illinois commerce commissioner. Mr. Slater was elected as the second African-American judge on the Cook County Municipal Court in Chicago in 1948. When he was elevated to the Cook County Superior Court in 1960, he became the first African-American to serve on that court. He moved to the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1964, where he served until his death in 1966. Go here to learn more about Mr. Slater. Here are some facts and history on the Duke Slater Memorial Statue:

• The first steps to creating the statue came several years ago when the Clinton Lumberkings baseball team had a bobblehead give-away night that featured a figure of Mr. Slater. That event's success helped spur the idea of better honoring the man with a statue, according to Ted Tornow, the former longtime general manager of the Lumberkings and the current chairman of the Duke Slater Memorial Committee. Mr. Tornow, who also is now the marketing and sponsorship manager of sports and tourism in Surprise, Arizona, said the idea gained inspiration from Mr. Rozendaal’s book and the University of Iowa naming the Kinnick Stadium field after Mr. Slater about three years ago. “This has been a labor of love for three years. … Students will get to walk by this every day, see this and get inspired,” he added of the new statue.
• Mr. Tornow called the years of work, planning and fundraising to get the statue in place a “magnificent obsession.”

• The Duke Slater Memorial Committee was formed in late 2021. The group raised more than $100,000 to create and place the statue. The committee members include: Mr. Tornow, Gary DeLacy, Francis Boggus, Patrick Parker, Kathryn Wynn-Calvin, Brian Kelly, Ari Lewerenz, Bill Misiewicz, Matt Parbs, Mr. Rozendaal, Ryan Veenstra, Paul Dotterweich and Tony Kirk.
• The Clinton County Development Association gave $75,000 to the project.
• For more than 18 months, Brodin Studios in  Kimball, Minnesota, created the statue.
• The statue is surrounded by six spotlights. There are also three black metal benches around the figure in the pocket park.
• That pocket park is the former site of an abandoned home. The property was sold to the school district by the City of Clinton for $1, and eventually transformed into a small park.
• Friday’s statue dedication was scheduled to feature the Clinton High School football team members unveiling the bronze figure at the end of the ceremony. But things didn’t go exactly as planned. A few minutes before the official unveiling, a gust of wind blew off the black cloth that was wrapped around the statue. 
• During the ceremony, Mr. Rozendaal told the crowd several stories about Mr. Slater’s days in Clinton. In one story, a young Duke decided to drop out of school. When he left school, Mr. Slater’s father got him a job cutting large blocks of ice out of the Mississippi River during the cold winter months. That job – often known as ice harvesting – had workers gathering ice so people could use the blocks to keep food from spoiling in the days before mechanical refrigeration. The young Mr. Slater quickly decided that work was not for him and returned to Clinton High School.
• In another story about Duke, Mr. Rozendaal said Duke’s father did not want him to play football because he feared his son would be hurt in the game. He even prohibited him from watching the game, fearing the young man would get into the game by sneaking onto the football field. And that’s exactly what happened during his sophomore year at Clinton High School. When his father found out he was playing football, he again prohibited him from the game. Duke protested by going on a hunger strike at home until his father eventually gave in and allowed Duke to play.

Several people attending Friday’s statue dedication said they hope young people in Clinton will be inspired by the many stories of Mr. Slater. In addition to his feats on the football field, they hope today’s students will also pay attention to the work he did in the legal field and for civil rights before his death in 1966. “I think this statue is an inspiration. … This is an amazing addition to our community,” said Mr. Kelly, who is a Duke Slater Memorial Committee member and president of Clinton Community College. In addition to inspiring Clinton students, the statue could turn into a destination spot and attract more tourists to the city, Grow Clinton officials said on Friday. But the statue of Mr. Slater is only part of the work being tackled by the Duke Slater Memorial Committee. The group is also creating a scholarship fund  to help Clinton High School students. The committee's goal is to raise at least $50,000 for that fund. Currently, it has raised about $20,000, according to Mr. DeLacy, a committee member and the retired Clinton School District superintendent. “This project is only half finished. … We will now concentrate on the scholarship at the high school,” he said, adding he hopes the scholarship is ready by next spring. Committee members said they hope the scholarship and statue will help inspire young people to become trailblazers in society – just like Mr. Slater. Mr. Slater’s trailblazing life was “shaped” in Clinton, said Mr. Rozendaal. “It all started right here at Clinton High School. … Clinton can be proud of Duke,” he added.