Those Who Helped Make Us Great
Buckner, Aurelius
Aurelius Buckner
- Sport:
- Football/Men's Basketball/Baseball
- Years:
- 1944-46
- Hometown:
- Boise, Idaho
Bio
STORY: The Legacy of Aurelius Buckner (The Athletic)
Aurelius Buckner, a native of Boise, enrolled at Boise Junior College as a freshman in the fall of 1944, and joined the football team. When the Broncos took the field that season in the midst of World War II with a 13-man roster and played six-man football against local squads, Buckner became the first black football player in school history. He also went on to become BJC/Boise State's first black baseball and basketball player.
Buckner and his wife, Dorothy, remained fixtures in the Treasure Valley long after his playing days. He worked for 20 years at a local Ford dealership and later covered the intermountain region as a bus driver. Civically, Buckner was a member of the first Idaho Commission on Human Rights, formed in 1968. He served two terms as the first black member of the commission. Dorothy, also a Boise native, was instrumental in passing the state's first civil rights law in 1961 and is a member of the Treasure Valley NAACP Hall of Fame.
Buckner passed away in 2003, but his pioneering legacy lives on. His daughter, Cherie Buckner-Webb, became Idaho's first black elected state legislator. Buckner-Webb was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2010. She was elected to the state senate in 2012 and gained re-election three times.
Buckner is prominently displayed at the Idaho Black History Museum, located in Julia Davis Park, just north of the Boise State University campus.
Aurelius Buckner, a native of Boise, enrolled at Boise Junior College as a freshman in the fall of 1944, and joined the football team. When the Broncos took the field that season in the midst of World War II with a 13-man roster and played six-man football against local squads, Buckner became the first black football player in school history. He also went on to become BJC/Boise State's first black baseball and basketball player.
Buckner and his wife, Dorothy, remained fixtures in the Treasure Valley long after his playing days. He worked for 20 years at a local Ford dealership and later covered the intermountain region as a bus driver. Civically, Buckner was a member of the first Idaho Commission on Human Rights, formed in 1968. He served two terms as the first black member of the commission. Dorothy, also a Boise native, was instrumental in passing the state's first civil rights law in 1961 and is a member of the Treasure Valley NAACP Hall of Fame.
Buckner passed away in 2003, but his pioneering legacy lives on. His daughter, Cherie Buckner-Webb, became Idaho's first black elected state legislator. Buckner-Webb was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2010. She was elected to the state senate in 2012 and gained re-election three times.
Buckner is prominently displayed at the Idaho Black History Museum, located in Julia Davis Park, just north of the Boise State University campus.
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