Arthur Ashe, the first black tennis player to overcome all manner of discrimination to win the US and Australian Open titles as well as Wimbledon, which he did in 1968, 1970 and 1975 respectively, is the subject of a major new Hollywood movie that is...
In a memoir published a few months after Arthur Ashe’s death the tennis champion reflected on one of the most famous demonstrations in sporting history. Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their Black Power salute at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, the year that Ashe...
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Long before the exploits of Arthur Ashe or the Williams sisters, Althea Gibson was achieving historic results in the previously all-white world of professional tennis. The 1957-58 AP Female Athlete of the Year, Gibson, a Florida A&M graduate, won the 1956 French Open, and both...
Over the course of her staggering career, Althea Gibson vanquished barrier after barrier standing in the way of African-American tennis players. In 1950, she became the first African-American to compete in the U.S. National Championships, the precursor to the U.S. Open. The 1956 French Championships...
Walking past 1422 Pierce Street in Lynchburg, Virginia, it is easy to miss history. The property features a modest home with a modest yard in a modest neighborhood. But to those in town – and to those around the world – who know the story of...
When I asked tennis pro Julien Delaine if he knew Bobby Johnson Jr., the sparkle in his eyes told me the question had struck gold. “Yeah, man!” Julien said excitedly, adding that anyone who hung around the tennis courts at 16th and Kennedy streets in Washington,...
Of the extremely limited public spaces where black children could frolic in segregation-era Richmond, Brook Field Park was the chief choice. Among the youngsters who roved its grounds, swam in its pool in sweltering summers and played on its tennis courts and baseball fields, there...
The saying goes, Sunday’s children are full of grace. This is somehow rather fitting when it comes to the character of Dr. Robert Walter “Whirlwind” Johnson, who came into the world on a Sunday. It is for this reason that Jennifer Petticolas titled her new play about...
Dr. Robert Johnson hosted a tennis camp at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia, starting in the 1940s where he coached young African Americans including Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. Lange Johnson talked about his grandfather’s work to integrate tennis and his own experiences at the...