Moira Rose Donohue - Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 10, 1943. Richmond was a city at that time, like the rest of the South. Black people and white people went to separate restaurants, churches, and movie theaters. They had separate schools and public spaces. When Arthur was four, his father got a job as a caretaker at a segregated park for blacks. The Ashes moved to a house right in the middle of the playground!

Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond.

Arthur loved sports and enjoyed living in the park. But he was skinny and sickly. His father wouldnt let him play football. What could Arthur do? The park had swimming pools, baseball fields, and four tennis courts. Arthur learned that being fast and was important for some of these sports. The tennis courts became very important to Arthur as he grew older.

When Arthur was only six, two things happened that would change his life. First, his mother died suddenly after an operation. Arthur had only a few pictures of her. Second, Arthur met Ron Charity. Ron was a talented African American tennis player.

One day, while Ron Charity was practicing at the playground, he saw Arthur. Ron asked Arthur if he wanted to learn to play tennis. Arthur ran to the equipment box and picked out a tennis racket. Ron taught him to hold the racket with an Eastern grip. Its like shaking hands, he told Arthur. He taught Arthur how to serve the ball and put it into play. Soon, Arthur was playing tennis.

Arthur learned to shake hands with the racket, like this boy.

Ron could tell that Arthur was a gifted tennis player. In 1953, Ron introduced Arthur to Dr. Robert Johnson. Dr. J had trained a famous African American tennis player named Althea Gibson. Dr. J agreed to coach Arthur. Arthur knew he was very lucky to be able to work with Dr. J. Sometimes he and Dr. J would take the bus to travel to tennis. But because they were African Americans, they had to sit in the back of the bus.

Althea Gibson was the first African American woman to win at the Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis matches.

When tennis was first played in England, it was played by British royalty. In the United States, tennis was once played only in private clubs called country clubs. The clubs did not allow African Americans to join. Arthur Ashe later said, Some folks call tennis a rich peoples sport or a white persons game. I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.

Tennis Today

Tennis was once played only in private clubs for white people.

Arthur was only twelve when he started playing in tennis because he was African American. One time, some white players at a tennis match destroyed property. They blamed Arthur! But other times, Arthur found friendly players. In Charlottesville, Arthur went to the movies with a group of white tennis players. The ticket seller wouldnt sell Arthur a ticket, so all the boys refused to go in!

Arthur wanted to practice all the time, even in the winter. But there were no indoor courts for African Americans in Richmond. So in 1960, Arthur moved to St. Louis, Missouri. His father had to stay behind with Arthurs younger brother. Arthur lived with some of Dr. Js friends while in St. Louis.