Biography

Leslie Pollard wears his Dartmouth College sweater (retrieved from Brown University Library)

Leslie Lawrence Pollard was born on April 30, 1888 in Chicago, Illinois, where he was also raised. Leslie Pollard was the son of a runaway slave named J. W. Pollards who fled to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. After the Civil War ended, Pollard’s father settled on the predominantly black north side of Chicago, Illinois on 4316 East Ravenwood Avenue.

Leslie was a standout football player in high school as a running back and enrolled in  Dartmouth College in the fall of 1908. While at Dartmouth, he played a limited role as a halfback for one season of varsity football during their 1908 season. Pollard saw little time on the field throughout the season, but shined when he was given the opportunity to play. The New York Age called him “the black whirlwind.” The 1908 season would be Pollard’s only season of collegiate football.

Leslie Pollard’s (standing left) Lincoln University team in 1914 (retrieved from Brown University Library)

Although there are no records of it at Penn, Dartmouth reported that Pollard had transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in the December of 1909. Although not much is documented in the interim, Pollard moved to New York City in 1911 after returning home to Chicago for a short while. While there, he worked as a sporting editor of the New York News and coached football at Lincoln University outside Philadelphia in the fall for four years. His future after Dartmouth was limited and ended abruptly. On April 19, 1915, he was “accidentally asphyxiated,” and died three days later. No details were reported.