546
(SPORTS—THOROUGHBRED RACING.) HARBUT, WILL.
Man o War
with his groom, Will Harbut.
Silver print photograph 11 x 13 inches, matted and
framed.
Kentucky, circa 1935
[800/1,200]
Man o War (1917-1947) was one the greatest thoroughbred race horses of all time. During his
career just following World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. Will
Harbut, born in 1885, was part of an old tradition in the South of African American trainers,
grooms and jockeys. Harbut was well known among Kentucky owners and breeders as one of
the best grooms and horse trainers in the area—some even said he was a “horse whisperer.” So,
in 1930 when the great horse was bought by Faraway Farms to be put out to stud; Harry B.
Scott, the farm’s manager hired Will Harbut to be Man ‘o War’s groom. This was to be the
start of a 15 year relationship that itself would become legendary. Harbut and the horse imme-
diately bonded, and were inseparable for the remainder of both their lives. Though
thoroughbreds are notable for their skittish and sometimes nasty behavior, Harbut was able to
make Man ‘o War or “Big Red” as he called the huge chestnut, docile enough for little chil-
dren who frequently came to visit him. Harbut called him “The mostest horse that ever was”
and the legendary sportswriter Joe Palmer dubbed the magnificent chestnut “The Living
Flame.” Both Man ‘o War and Harbut are in the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.
547
(THEATRE.) DODSON, OWEN.
Garden of Time, Written and Directed
by Owen Dodson.
19 x 14 inches. New York: American Negro Theatre,
[700/1,000]
Dodsonís ìGarden of Timeî (1939) was an African American interpretation of the Greek
tragedy ìMedea.î It was performed by the American Negro Theatre in Harlem in 1945. The
American Negro Theatre was an outgrowth of the Federal Theatre Project of the WPA, and
for nearly five years between 1940 and 1945 its home was the basement of the 135th Street
branch of the New York Public Library , now known as the Schomburg Center.
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