Cover of the May 5, 2003 Sports Illustrated issue owned by Robert Johnson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A mounted cover of the May 5, 2003 Sports Illustrated issue featuring the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports.” The cover is primarily tan and features a large color photograph of sport celebrities. The masthead is printed at the top fourth of the cover in large gold text outlined in white and shadowed in black that reads [SPORTS / ILLUSTRATED]. Kim Ng, Robert Johnson, Tyrone Willingham, Serena Williams, and Felipe Alou. Johnson, depicted at center, is standing in three quarters pose with his body turned towards the left side of the image and his head turned towards the viewer. He’s wearing a gray suit and tie with a white dress shirt. To his left is Ng, wearing a black suit with a red blouse. Behind her is Willingham wearing a blue dress shirt with a white and gray sweater vest. Williams stands directly to the right of Johnson, wearing an orange tennis dress. On the far right is Alou. He is depicted wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball uniform and cap. Printed inside a small, gold rectangular graphic overlaying the images of Johnson, Willingham, and Ng is the main cover line in white and black text that reads [101 / MOST/ INFLUENTIAL / MINORITIES/ IN SPORTS]. The cover is mounted inside a red and white cardboard double mat with beveled edges. The back side is a piece of rectangular white foam board.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: May 5, 2003
• Published by: Sports Illustrated, American, founded 1954
• Subject of: Robert L. Johnson, American, born 1946
• Subject of: Kim Ng, American, born 1968
• Subject of: Tyrone Willingham, American, born 1953
• Subject of: Serena Jameka Williams, American, born 1981
• Subject of: Felipe Alou, Dominican, born 1935
• Subject of: San Francisco Giants, American, founded 1958
• Type: magazines (periodicals)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) with cardboard and Fome-Cor (TM)
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 10 5/16 × 7 13/16 in. (26.2 × 19.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (sheet): 15 5/8 × 13 1/16 × 5/16 in. (39.7 × 33.1 × 0.8 cm)
• Place collected: Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Baseball
• Topic: Basketball
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Football
• Topic: Journalism
• Object number: 2020.16.3.3.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert L. Johnson, Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and First African American Majority Owner of a National Basketball Association Team, The Charlotte Bobcats
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Sports Illustrated Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.