| Arthur Ashe: Much More Than Tennis | |
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Few athletes have used their public prominence as effectively for the greater good as did Arthur Ashe. In 1968, he helped create the USTA National Junior Tennis League, which has since introduced tennis to thousands of inner-city junior players. In 1970, to bring world attention against apartheid, he called for South Africa to be expelled from the International Lawn Tennis Federation, and to further make his point, he applied for, and was denied, a visa to travel there. South Africa yielded to pressure in 1973, allowing Ashe, the first black pro ever, to play in its national championship. Arthur's activism for civil rights never ceased. In 1992, he protested the expulsion of Haitian refugees and was arrested in front of the White House.
Arthur's early love of reading evidenced itself as he took up writing. He spent six years researching the material for his 1988 book, A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African American Athlete. Nelson Mandela was among those who found this a compelling look at civil rights in the world of sport. He also wrote, with a co-author for each, Arthur Ashe on Tennis, Days of Grace, and Arthur Ashe, Portrait in Motion.
In 1992, shortly after being forced to announce his HIV infection, Arthur founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS. Later that year, he addressed the UN General Assembly, urging increased funding for AIDS research. His Arthur Ashe AIDS Tennis Challenge, a fundraiser which was part of the US Open kickoff celebrations, has evolved into Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the stadium now named in his honor. Arthur died of AIDS in 1993.
The Arthur Ashe monument, erected in 1996, stands on Monument Avenue in Richmond, surrounded, ironically, by the city's heroes of the Confederacy. Much of what Arthur Ashe did for us is represented by the fact that the city where he was once forbidden to play tennis with white children now counts him as one of their greatest citizens.
How do you remember Arthur Ashe? Stop by our tennis forum to let us know.
Additional Resources:
Major Records in Tennis History Maze
