In the opening years of the twentieth century, a young Irish-American runner from Brooklyn held the record for the fastest mile by an American-born runner. James P. Sullivan (1885-1965) of the Irish-American Athletic Club, known as ‘4.22 Jim’ for his record breaking 1 mile time, was selected to represent the United States at the 1906 Intercalated Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, England.

New York University’s Archives of Irish America has created an online exhibit at Flickr.com of images from James P. Sullivan’s personal scrapbook, loaned by his grandsons Brian and Terry Sullivan. To view this exhibit, created by Marion R. Casey, click here.

To view New York University’s Archives of Irish America primary source documents related to the Irish American Athletic Club, click here.