Olive branch given to Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An Olympic olive tree box. A long, rectangular light brown wooden box. There is a thick clear lid that is attached with a screw in each corner. There is a handwritten inscription in black ink on the bottom proper left corner. There are a few scratches and smudges on the lid. The proper left side has two (2) golden color metal hinges. The proper right side has a metal box clasp in the center and two rectangular gold colored metal plates. The plates have engraved text. The plate near the top of the box reads ["???I??S", ????S ????OS ???????S / ?G ???? ???T??? ?????O? ??????????O?]. The plate near the bottom of the box reads ["KOTINOS", BRANCH OF WILD OLIVE, FROM THE SACRED ALTIS / OF OLIMPIA, GLORIOUS PRIZE ANCIENT OLYMPIC WINNERS / PRESENTED BY THE HELLENIC OLYMPIC COMMITTEE]. On the back side of the box there is a handwritten inscription in black ink.

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