Manuel Rivero, born in 1908, is recognized for his many athletic achievements and his distinguished career (1934 to 1977) as Athletic Director, Administrator, and multi-sport coach at Lincoln University (Chester County, PA).

Rivero immigrated to the United States from Havana, Cuba at age 9, arriving in Ellis Island in 1918. He attended high school in New York City where he was an accomplished athlete, earning all-city status in both football and baseball. In 1930, at age 21, he enrolled at Columbia University, where he also excelled in football and baseball. Rivero was Columbia’s first African American player to play regularly and earn a varsity letter. Nicknamed “The Golden Flash,” he was the starting halfback on teams that played before enormous crowds. In 1931, his speed was on display in a game against Princeton as he took the opening kickoff and raced 86 yards for a touchdown. In baseball, he played third base, center field and pitched for three seasons. He had a storybook finish to his Columbia baseball career getting a standing ovation from 5,000 fans in a win over Fordham in May,1933. Rivero earned a B.A degree in engineering and an M.A. degree in Health and Recreation from Columbia. He had a brief professional baseball career playing for the Cuban Stars, a travelling team in the Negro Leagues.

In 1934 Rivero was hired by Lincoln University as its Athletic Director. During his impressive career at Lincoln, he coached baseball, football, track and field, tennis, and basketball. He was the founder and served as chairman of Lincoln’s Health, Recreation and Physical Education Department and retired in 1977 as the Department Chair and Athletic Director.

Among his many accolades Rivero was named Teacher of the Year at Lincoln (1960) and recipient of the Chapel of the Four Chaplain’s Award. In 1978 he received the Lincoln Alumni Association Award, and in1982 was elected to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1986, Lincoln University dedicated its basketball fieldhouse “Manuel Rivero Hall.”

In 1938 Rivero became a naturalized U.S. citizen, taking the Oath of Allegiance at the Chester County Courthouse. He married Grace Beresford Hughes, who taught Latin and English at Lincoln. They raised two children. Rivero also served his local community as a member of the Pennsylvania State Traffic Control Committee, Chairman of the Oxford PA United Way, and a member of the Board of Supervisors for Lower Oxford Township.

He died in 2001.