Franklin Burghardt

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William Franklin "Burgie" Burghardt (February 4, 1912 – August 8, 1981) was an American football and basketball coach and former athlete.

He was born in Greenfield, Illinois, where his father and grandfather were barbers. He traced his family line back eight generations to a Revolutionary War ancestor and he was related to W. E. B. Du Bois. Burghardt attended Eureka College, where he played football and ran track and was co-captain of the football team in his senior year. He played on the same Eureka football team as Ronald Reagan.

A notable college moment involved a racially charged incident on a road trip. A hotel refused to admit Burghardt and another Black player, so the team slept on the bus. Reagan, concerned about morale, paid for a taxi to take Burghardt and the teammate to stay with Reagan’s parents in Dixon, Illinois. Reagan later recounted the story in his writings and speeches, and the two remained friends for decades.

Burghardt became the seventh head football coach at the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) in Durham, serving from 1937 to 1941. His football record there was 22–17–4. He was also the head basketball coach from 1937 to 1940, with a 47–21 record. He earned a PhD later and published articles on health and physical education. In 1971, Eureka College inducted him into its Athletic Hall of Fame. Burghardt died in Rockville, Maryland, in 1981 at age 69.