Wall Of Fame EARL WOODS Class of 1949
Earl Woods was an athlete, US Army officer and the father of golfer Tiger Woods. Born in Manhattan, the youngest of six children, his father was a city worker in the street department and scorekeeper for the Negro Leagues and other baseball games at Griffith Field until his death in 1943. Woods' mother died in 1947 and the family home thereafter was kept by his sister. Graduating from MHS in 1949, Woods attended Kansas State where he was the first black player to be recruited for baseball, helping to integrate baseball in the Big Seven Conference. He lettered in 1952 and 1953. Before Woods senior year, the Kansas City Monarchs of Negro Leagues baseball offered him a contract, but the educational values stressed by his family kept him in school and he graduated in 1953.

He took the military's Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC) at K-State to prepare for a career he felt was open to a black man at that time: as an officer in the U.S. Army. Woods served two tours of duty in Vietnam, the second as part of the Green Berets. Military decorations awarded to Woods included the Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Silver Star, and the Bronze Star. Woods' explained the techniques he used in raising his fourth child, Tiger, who was a golf prodigy by age three, in his several books. The Earl Woods Youth Golf Academy, based at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, is named in his honor. Woods died in 2006 and is buried in Sunset Cemetery.