By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
The story of the car accident that killed the “Galveston Giant,” also known as Jack Johnson, the first Black world heavyweight boxing champion, was a story that marked the heart and soul of a child in the town of Franklinton, North Carolina.
“We had the only television in town, and every Friday night the men would come over and watch boxing,” Joseph Cutchins Jr. said. “That’s how I learned about Jack Johnson and his car accident.”
Joseph Cutchins Jr. was just three years old when his father arrived at Johnson’s accident site in Franklinton, North Carolina.
His father owned the local funeral home, and it was his father’s hearse that transported Jack Johnson to a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a custom of that time and that region of the country for a hearse to serve as an ambulance.
Jack Johonson’s life came to an end on June 10, 1946, and that was the day Cutchins Jr. began to hear the tales of the last days and hours of the boxer’s life. He has memorized the details to such an extent that hearing him tell the story, you might feel like he was an eyewitness to the events he recounts.
For the first time in his life, Cutchins Jr. will be visiting the birthplace of the legend whose life story and death story he has etched on his heart. Cutchins Jr. will be a guest speaker at Nia Cultural Center at 2217 The Strand in Galveston on March 30 at 3 p.m.
Jack Johnson’s birthday is March 31, and in honor of the birthday of the “Galveston Giant, ” Cutchins Jr. will share with visitors to the Nia Cultural Center the vivid details of Johnson ’s fatal car accident as they were passed down to him.
Cutchins Jr. is also planning to entertain the guests with his musical talents.
“I wear two hats — one as a funeral director, the other of a musician,” Cutchins Jr. said.
Cutchins Jr. has not strayed from his father’s career. He said he is the owner of Cutchins Family Mortuary and Cremations, which, when owned by his father, was Franklinton Funeral Home.
