Edward Orval "Ned" Gourdin (August 10, 1897 in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

 – July 22, 1966 in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 athlete and jurist. He was the first man in history to make 25 feet in the long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

  and the first African-American/Native-American (Seminole) to be appointed a Superior Court judge in New England.

He won the silver medal in the Long Jump at the 1924 Summer Olympics

1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Following his return from the Olympics, Gourdin was admitted to the bar. He left his law practice in 1935 to serve as assistant United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 from Massachusetts. In 1951 he was appopnited to the Roxbury District Court. On July 22, 1958, he was apponited by governor Foster Furcolo

Foster Furcolo

John Foster Furcolo was a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 60th Governor of Massachusetts, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and in other government offices in Massachusetts. He was the first Italian-American governor of Massachusetts.-Life and career:Furcolo...

 to serve on the Massachusetts Superior Court, the Commonwealth's second highest court. He remained on the court until his death on July 22, 1966.

Gourdin attended Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha

Alpha Phi Alpha

Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...

fraternity.