1904-1951
Inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1986
Born in Vernon, Connecticut, Joseph grew up in Hartford and attended the Northeast School and Hartford High School, graduating in 1922. He attended Carnegie Tech and then transferred to Syracuse University, where he graduated in 1926. He received a law degree from Boston University, and later settled in Bristol, where he practiced law and was appointed as a judge of the city court, until his untimely death in 1951.
At age 15, he established a new world record of 2 and 3/5 seconds in the 20-yard dash in a meet at the YMCA in 1920. He starred in the dash on the Hartford High School track team, and was captain of the track team for two years. Joseph was a member of the school’s mile relay team that won the event at the Penn Relays, the country’s oldest track and field event, establishing a meet record. He was the first student to win the prize offered at the Hartford High School for achievement in athletic and scholastic activities. At Syracuse, he continued his career as a sprint star, setting a Syracuse record in the 60-yard dash in 1925.