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Showing posts with label BTHOF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BTHOF. Show all posts

March 23, 2021

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: Exclusive Conversation With Ann Koger - The Life Experience Of An African-American Woman Who Would Not Be Denied

 

                          INTERVIEWED BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHELIA CURRY IN MARCH 2019 (All Rights Reserved)

 

Ann Koger is one of the most inspirational women that I have had the opportunity to become acquainted with in my lifetime. She is one of those invincible human beings that fulfilled her dreams and life pursuits at a time when segregation and racism were wholly systemic and acceptable. The accomplishments achieved by Ann practically appear as if doors for African-Americans and women were wide open and inviting, when in actuality they were closed and unwelcoming. Ann has earned a societal place among the greatest, yet she is not the least bit interested in the shine that inherently comes with it. She sees her journey as experiences that were either “not an option,” to “I just kept going.” From growing up in segregated Baltimore, Maryland to retiring in 2016 after 35 years as the Head Coach of Women’s Tennis at Haverford University. Here are some of Ann’s accomplishments and accolades: 

 

  • A four-year letter winner in four of the seven varsity sports (basketball, field hockey, volleyball and tennis) she competed in while at Morgan State University and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.

  • The second female member of Morgan State’s tennis men’s team, ranking second in singles between 1969-1972 and first in doubles. In 1971

  • One of the country’s first African American women to play in the Virginia Slims Tennis Circuit, competing from 1973 to 1977

  • Is a certified USPTR teaching professional and a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Her educational background includes B.S. and M.S. degrees from Morgan State University, and an Ed.D. in Sports Administration from Temple University.

  • Officiated at many levels of basketball for 25 years, and in 1985, she became the first woman to officiate an NCAA Division I men’s basketball game.

  • The First Vice President of the American Tennis Association, Koger was the co-director of the 1985 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships.

  • Honored by many organizations throughout her career, Koger received a national community service award from USTA/Volvo/ITA in 1989 and another from USTA for Division III in 1996.

  • In February 2000, Ann Koger cancelled the Haverford College women’s tennis team training in Hilton Head, South Carolina to join the national boycott over the Confederate flag that flies over the state’s Capitol Building.

  • Honored as part of the 2007 International Tennis Hall of Fame Exhibit ‘Breaking the Barriers’ at the 2007 US Open in New York, N.Y. as an accomplished and pioneering professional tennis player and as a contributor to the exhibit through artifacts and oral history.

  • Selected as a member of the Black Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2010 and was inducted into the Hall of Achievement at the Philadelphia Association of Black Sports and Culture

  • Devotion to tennis has earned her a spot in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Middle States Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

  • Served as 2015 Coach of the United States Tennis Association Middle States Girls 18 National Team Championship.

  • Also In 2015, Koger was elected and appointed to a second term of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Board of Directors and serves as a member of the ITA Small College Operating Committee

  • Named the 2016 Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Coach of the Year 

March 2, 2021

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: The Women of Black Tennis Hall of Fame


INAUGURAL CLASS OF 2008

  • Althea Gibson, Pioneer/Player

  • Lucy Diggs Slowe, Pioneer/Player

CLASS OF 2009 

  • Ora Washington, Pioneer/Player

  • Bonnie Logan, Player

  • Zina Lynn Garrison, Player

CLASS OF 2010

  • Ann Koger, Player

  • Leslie Allen, Player

CLASS OF 2011

  • Isadore Channels (Izzy), Pioneer/Player

  • Flora Lomax Bray, Pioneer/Player

  • Lulu Ballard, Pioneer/Player

  • Lori McNeil, Player

CLASS 2012

  • Katrina Adams, Player

  • Margaret "Pete" Peters and   

       Matilda Roumania "Repeat" Peters,

       Player/Pioneers

February 27, 2021

Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Is Proud To Present Black Tennis Hall of Fame President Robert "Bob" C. Davis As A PTR ACE Hero!

PTR is proud to present Bob Davis as a PTR ACE Hero!

Some of Bob's Achievements:

President & 2014 inductee in the Black Tennis Hall of Fame

National Program Director of the Ashe-Bollettieri Program

 Hosted PTR ACE workshops

Supported several inner-city tennis initiatives including the Panda Foundation. 

 

February 21, 2021

THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE: West Philadelphia Native Frank Adams To Be Inducted Into The Black Tennis Hall Of Fame

 Writer/Credits:  Mr. Donald Hunt / dhunt@phillytrib.com

 

Frank Adams, who grew up playing tennis in West Philadelphia, will be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame. Adams will be enshrined as a regional legend at the annual induction ceremony for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 July 2-3. The ceremony will take place at the Sportsmen’s Tennis & Enrichment Center in Dorchester, Mass. 

 

Adams, who was the first African American President of the Colorado Tennis Association, and Intermountain Tennis Association USTA Section, paving the way for Colorado and section leaders. As chair of the Colorado and ITA Minority Participation Committee, he recruited and mentored African Americans to volunteer for the USTA Committees. 

 

Adams knows the value of getting volunteers involved in the game as well as playing tennis on the grassroots level. That’s here his career took off as a player.

 

“I look at it as part of a journey that helped me along,” said Adams, a St. Joseph’s Prep alumnus. “I couldn’t have arrived at this point without all the mentors that helped me out from the times I first started playing tennis.

February 17, 2021

Black Tennis Hall of Fame Congratulates Its Founder, Dr. Dale G. Caldwell As He Is Announced As An Inductee Into The Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2021

 

Tennis Historian, founder of the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, creator and co-curator of the original Breaking the Barriers Exhibit, now hosted at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and former USTA Eastern President.

Dale Caldwell is the first of this year's six inductees into the Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame to be announced. A new inductee will be announced each week. 


A graduate of Princeton University, Dale has tirelessly promoted the history of Black Tennis in the US. He founded the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2006, he conceived and conjured Breaking the Barriers – currently on exhibition at the International Tennis Hall of Fame – honoring the American Tennis Association and the Black pioneers of tennis.

 

Along with fellow Hall of Famer Nancy Gill McShea, Dale is the author of Tennis in New York, the History of the Most Influential Sport in the Most Influential City in the World. He has served on the Board of Directors of the USTA and was the first Black president of USTA Eastern.

 

January 21, 2021

CONGRATULATIONS BLACK TENNIS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2021!!

 **With Great Honor, We Welcome Each Of You**


Click on the introductory photo above to reach the bios of each of our 2021 inductees and be enlightened by their accomplishments!

November 23, 2020

Inducted As A Contributor Into The Black Tennis Hall Of Fame Class Of 2012, The First And Only Black Mayor Of New York City, David N. Dinkins, Dies One Month After His Wife, Former First Lady Joyce Dinkins

In this Monday, Jan. 2, 1990, file photo, David Dinkins delivers his first speech as mayor of New York, in New York. Dinkins, New York City’s first African-American mayor, died Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. He was 93. (AP Photo/Frankie Ziths, File)

 


NEW YORK (AP) — David Dinkins, who broke barriers as New York City’s first African-American mayor, but was doomed to a single term by a soaring murder rate, stubborn unemployment and his mishandling of a race riot in Brooklyn, has died. He was 93. 

Dinkins died Monday, the New York City Police Department confirmed. The department said officers were called to the former mayor’s home this evening. Initial indications were that he died of natural causes. 

Dinkins, a calm and courtly figure with a penchant for tennis and formal wear, was a dramatic shift from both his predecessor, Ed Koch, and his successor, Rudolph Giuliani — two combative and often abrasive politicians in a city with a world-class reputation for impatience and rudeness. 

In his inaugural address, he spoke lovingly of New York as a “gorgeous mosaic of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation, of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, coming through Ellis Island or Kennedy Airport or on buses bound for the Port Authority.”

But the city he inherited had an ugly side, too. 

September 6, 2020

Black Tennis Hall Of Fame Sends Condolences To Its Founder, Dr. Dale G. Caldwell, Upon The Death Of His Father, Reverend Dr. Gilbert Haven Caldwell, Jr., A Family Man, Minister, And Civil Rights Foot Soldier (Video)

The Rev. Dr. Gilbert H. Caldwell first met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1958 while he was a student at Boston University. He actively participated in the 1963 March on Washington, the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, and the March in Boston protesting public school segregation, 1968 Poor People's Campaign. 

Dr. Caldwell was a graduate of North Carolina A. & T. State University and Boston University School of Theology. He received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity, D.D. degree, Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, South Dakota. 

He was a retired United Methodist Church minister who has pastored churches in Boston, New Haven, Brooklyn, Harlem, Chester, Pennsylvania and Denver, Colorado. Dr. Caldwell has been a United Methodist Church District Superintendent in Boston and West Chester, Pennsylvania. 

As recently as June 7th, Dr. Caldwell spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally in Willingboro.  Dr. Caldwell stated that, “Our country is on the verge of dying if, in fact, it doesn’t stand up and become more just."

August 20, 2020

HALL OF FAMER ANGELA BUXTON HAS DIED AT 85

British tennis player Angela Buxton, left, and doubles partner Althea Gibson, right, are presented with the trophy for the 1956 Wimbledon Women's Doubles title by The Duchess of Kent.

 

 

In 1956, Angela Buxton made history by winning the French Woman’s Doubles Championship with Althea Gibson. She therefore played an important role in helping Althea Gibson become the first African American to win a Grand Slam tournament doubles championship. Buxton and Gibson went on to win the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Championship that year as well. In 1953 and 1957, she won the Women’s Singles title at the Maccabiah Games for Jewish athletes. People of Jewish descent were not admitted to the All England Lawn Tennis Club where Wimbledon was played until 1952. In addition, they faced discrimination on the world tennis tour. The racism that Gibson experienced and the anti-Semitism that Buxton experienced brought them together on the tennis tour. When they won the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Championship one British newspaper used the unfortunate headline “Minorities Win” to call attention to their victory.

Buxton was an excellent singles player who reached the 1956 Wimbledon Women’s Finals. Prior to that accomplishment, she won the English Indoor title, the London Grass Court singles championships and the English Hard Court Doubles title with Darlene Hard. She reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Singles division of French Championships in 1956 (the same year she and Gibson won the Women’s Doubles Championship). 

 

Black Tennis Hall of Fame inducted Ms. Buxton in 2015, and the International Jewish Sports Hall in Israel in 1981, as shared by The Jerusalem Post.


Ms. Buxton is accompanied by Billie Jean King.

 

 

On Monday, August 26, 2019, the first day of the U.S. Open and the historic occasion of the Althea Gibson Statue Unveiling, Ms. Buxton, shared memories of her long-time friend.  “We won both the French and Wimbledon doubles together with my arm around her both times at the closing ceremonies.”  “She slowly became the Jackie Robinson of tennis and I was soon referred to as the Pee Wee Reese, who without saying a word indicated, “This is my friend.” 

 


Ms. Buxton, seated far right, shared moments of her career and friendship with Althea Gibson.   


August 3, 2020

AFTER ACHIEVING A CENTURY OF LIFE, AND A LIFE FILLED WITH ACHIEVEMENTS, THE FIRST BLACK TENNIS PROFESSIONAL IN THE UNITED STATES HAS DIED. BLACK TENNIS HALL OF FAME MOURNS THE LOSS, AND CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF HALL OF FAMER ROBERT RYLAND JUNE 16, 1920 - AUGUST 2, 2020



 

In 1959, Ryland broke through barriers of race and class by becoming the first African American to become a tennis professional. His success in both American Tennis Association (ATA) and integrated amateur tournaments around the country made him one of the best known Black players in the US. His fame led sports promoter Jack Marsh to ask Ryland to make history by joining his professional tennis circuit which included legendary tennis players Pancho Gonzalez (who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) in 1968), Lew Hoad (ITHF Inductee in 1990) and other top pro players. Ryland accepted, and another barrier of race and class was broken when he played his first pro match in Cleveland in 1959. Ryland started playing tennis at age nine. He was taught by his father and the iconic Mrs. C.O. “Mother” Seames (one of the first nationally known black tennis coaches) of the Chicago Prairie Tennis Club in Chicago, Illinois. Ryland had a talent for the sport and quickly rose to stardom by winning the Illinois State High School Championship in 1939, beating Jimmy Evert (Chris Evert’s father) on the way to the title. In addition, in 1939, he won the ATA Boys 18 and under Singles Championship. In 1944, he played in a historic exhibition tennis match at the Cosmopolitan Club with legendary player Alice Marble (1964 ITHF Inductee) against Dr. Reginald Weir and Mary Hardwick. Ryland and Marble won the match 10-8. In 1946, he won the Men’s Singles Championship in the Detroit Public Parks integrated tournament. In 1947, he lost to the number one ranked U.S. player Ham Richardson 4-6, 5-7 in the Pacific Southwest Championship. In 1952, he won the integrated Los Angeles Industrial City Championships. In 1955 and 1956 he won the ATA Men’s Singles Championship in addition to being a finalist four other times.

 

Playing for Wayne State University, Ryland was the first Black man to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1946. Ryland was so admired in the Black tennis community that a 14-year-old Arthur Ashe said his only dream was “to be good enough to beat Bob Ryland.” In 1955, Ryland received a nomination by the ATA to play in the USLTA Nationals at Forest Hills. At the age of 35, with no experience on grass, he lost in straight sets in the first round. Clearly, Ryland might have done well in the US Nationals if he had been allowed to play it in the prime of his tennis career. In the 1960’s, he worked briefly at the St. Albans Tennis Club in Washington, DC where he gave tennis lessons to some of Washington’s elite. He later coached Venus and Serena Williams when they were juniors, and touring pros Harold Solomon and Leslie Allen. In addition, he taught tennis to many celebrities including Bill Cosby, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand and Tony Bennett.

 

 

 


June 19, 2020

ON TUESDAY, JUNE 16TH, HALL OF FAMER ROBERT RYLAND, THE FIRST BLACK TENNIS PROFESSIONAL IN AMERICA, CELEBRATED HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

In 1959 Robert Ryland broke through barriers of race and class, and became the first African-American tennis professional. His success in both American Tennis Association (ATA), and integrated amateur tournaments around the country, made him one of the best known Black players in the United States.  In 2009, in honor of his lifetime of achievements, he was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall Fame (BTHOF). 


At the Class of 2019 Induction Ceremony, Mr. Ryland graced us with his presence at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn New York, and shared a bit of his wisdom in person, as he shares it in his book.

"I THINK, IF I HAD NOT PLAYED TENNIS, I WOULD NEVER BECOME 99 YEARS OLD."


Robert Ryland 100 from Black Tennis Hall of Fame on Vimeo.

April 19, 2020

FORMER AMERICAN TENNIS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ALBERT A. TUCKER HAS DIED


Albert A. Tucker served as Vice President of Multicultural Business Development for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB), where he was focused on ensuring that organizations and families of diverse backgrounds select Greater Fort Lauderdale as the destination of choice for conferences and family reunions. It was Tucker’s vision to expose ethnically diverse individuals and groups to Greater Fort Lauderdale so that GFL becomes the destination of choice for individuals of color.

Mr. Tucker had been the leader in the development of a Permanent Home and Training Facility for the American Tennis Association where he formerly served as Executive Director.

In addition to his public service, Mr. Tucker served on the Advisory Board of the Urban League of Broward County, Advisory Board of the 100 Black Men of Greater Fort Lauderdale and was intimately involved with the expansion of Jazz in the Gardens musical festival, which brings in more than 45,000 visitors to South Florida

.
 

WPLG Local 10 News stated that Mr. Tucker died suddenly this weekend. His co-workers said his death was not related to the coronavirus.  A video is posted detailing the work and community appreciation for Mr. Tucker.



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