Photographic Postcard of Woody Headspeth on His Bicycle in France, c. 1900-1910

France: None Stated, 1900. Postcard measuring 5 ½ x 3 ⅝ inches. Fine condition. Fine. Woody Headspeth - known also as Woody Hadspath or Hedspath, as is written here - was an African-American cyclist who raced mostly in France due to racial prejudice in the United States. Headspeth raced until he was 50 years old in France, working as a mechanic on tracks, and sometimes for Victor Linart. He was in France at the time of the German occupation, and fled to Portugal, where he would die of typhus and tuberculosis. While we can’t date this photograph exactly, Headspeth looks to be roughly the same age as other known photographs from his early period in Europe c. 1900-1910.