Arthur Ashe

by Raymond Arsenault

  29 Ashe holds up the Wimbledon men’s singles silver-gilt trophy as the crowd roars its approval.

  30 Paired as Wimbledon singles champions, Ashe and Billie Jean King walk onto the dance floor at the Wimbledon Ball.

  31 Black tennis pioneers Ashe and Althea Gibson, with ten-year-old tennis prospect Derek Irby, at the United Negro College Fund celebrity benefit tournament in New York, October 8, 1976.

  32 Fiancés Arthur Ashe and Jeanne Moutoussamy, four days before their wedding, February 16, 1977.

  33 Ashe and Jeanne on their wedding day, flanked by best man Johnnie Ashe and matron of honor Diane Elliston, with the Reverend Andrew Young officiating, United Nations Chapel, New York, February 20, 1977.

  34 Ashe and his doubles partner, Senator Ted Kennedy, at the Robert F. Kennedy Benefit tournament, Forest Hills, New York, August 1974.

  35 Ashe counsels an overheated John McEnroe during a Davis Cup tie against Czechoslovakia, New York, July 10, 1981.

  36 Captain Arthur Ashe, flanked by his victorious team, holds the Davis Cup during the award ceremony in Grenoble, France, after the U.S. team repeated as champions by defeating the French, November 28, 1982. Left to right: Eliot Teltscher, Gene Mayer, Ashe, John McEnroe, and Peter Fleming.

  37 Ashe during a mentoring session with several young African American tennis pros, c. 1982. From left to right: Ashe, Leslie Allen, Chip Hooper, Renee Blount, Lloyd Bourne, and Kim Sands.

  38 Ashe and other celebrity activists announce the formation of Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid during a press conference at the United Nations building in New York, September 14, 1983. From left to right: Gregory Hines, Tony Randall, Ashe, Ruby Dee, Randall Robinson, Ossie Davis, and Harry Belafonte.

  39 Ashe and presidential candidate Jesse Jackson at the opening of Jackson’s state campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, December 17, 1983.

  40 Working as a broadcaster for ABC Sports, Ashe interviews Jimmy Arias at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

  41 Ashe is arrested during a protest in front of the South African embassy, Washington, D.C., January 12, 1985.

  42 Ashe and Jeanne at the podium during the AIDS announcement press conference at the HBO building, April 7, 1992.

  43 Jeanne, Ashe, and their daughter, five-year-old Camera, at the Arthur Ashe AIDS Tennis Challenge, USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, New York, August 30, 1992.

  44 Standing in front of the White House, Ashe and others protest the Bush administration’s mistreatment of Haitian refugees, September 9, 1992. Ashe is flanked by Mary Frances Berry (left) of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and Sylvia Hill (right) of TransAfrica.

  45 In one of his final public appearances, Ashe speaks on the AIDS crisis at a symposium sponsored by the World Health Organization, World AIDS Day, United Nations headquarters, New York, December 1, 1992.

  46 Jeanne looks down at six-year-old Camera as she examines a paper dove taken from the floral arrangement at the graveside service for her father, Woodland Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, February 10, 1993.

  47 Ashe Memorial on Monument Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, created by the Richmond sculptor Paul DiPasquale and dedicated on July 10, 1996.

  48 Eric Fischl’s controversial nude sculpture of Ashe, Soul in Flight, installed in the commemorative garden near the entrance to the USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, New York, in August 2000.

  49 Jeanne and Camera pose next to a poster of the newly dedicated Arthur Ashe postage stamp (issued in 2005) on Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the U.S. Open, August 28, 2004.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book is rooted in a friendship that began on the tennis courts of Brandeis University during the fall of 1971. At the time, tennis was the game of choice among the faculty and students of the university’s History of American Civilization graduate program, and no one availed himself of this choice more often than James Oliver “Jim” Horton, an African American student from Newark, New Jersey. Born in March 1943, Jim was three months older than his idol Arthur Ashe, to whom he bore a striking resemblance. They were the same height and weight, they shared the same coloring, and they both took the court dressed in tennis whites with Ashe-model Head rackets in hand. In 1972, during a professional tournament at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, a crowd of Ashe fans waiting for him to leave the locker room to begin a match against Tom Okker rushed over to get an autograph from their hero only to discover they had just surrounded Jim Horton, who coolly signed several programs before his real identity became apparent. This was undoubtedly one of the great moments of Jim’s life, and in later years he loved to tell the story of the accidental “autograph scam” at Longwood.

  Jim and his wife and perennial coauthor, Lois, were scholars of community life among Free Blacks in the antebellum North, a speciality that focused their attention on such notables as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. But when it came to the contemporary scene Ashe was their guiding star. Jim’s personal admiration for his role model, both as a tennis player and as a human being, knew no bounds, and he communicated this feeling to all of his friends on and off the court. As his close friend and frequent doubles partner, I was drawn inexorably into the Ashe-Horton orbit. My tennis skills, unlike Jim’s, never reached the level where I could realistically pattern my serve and backhand after Ashe’s signature strokes. But I came to share Jim’s interest in and respect for one of the sports world’s most admirable figures.

  Years later, as our professorial careers matured and as our common interest in the history of civil rights took a cultural turn, we talked about coauthoring a journal article, or perhaps even a book, on Ashe. Unfortunately, our proposed collaboration was scotched by a rare brain disorder that curtailed Jim’s career in 2007 and ended his life a decade later. When I began this book in 2009, Jim was my inspiration, and as the research and writing progressed, his deep connection to Ashe was often in my thoughts. At the outset, I decided to dedicate the book, if and when I ever finished it, to Jim and Lois Horton. Now, after nine years of work, I am pleased and honored to do so as a small token of my debt to two cherished friends who dedicated their life together to the same ideals that Arthur Ashe held dear—honesty, justice, and equality.

  I also owe an incalculable debt to Arthur’s widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe. Her cooperation, encouragement, and support have been indispensable throughout this long project, and I can never repay her many kindnesses. She generously shared memories of her seventeen years with Arthur—and of the quarter century she has devoted to sustaining his legacy. Her command of detail and nuance saved me from numerous errors, and her skill and experience as a professional photographer proved invaluable.

  Other members of the Ashe family graciously shared their memories of Arthur. I especially want to thank Arthur’s brother Johnnie, his sister, Loretta Ashe Harris, and his niece La Chandra Harris Pace for their help. Their collective portrait of a closely knit extended family was instrumental to my reconstruction of Arthur’s private life, especially during his early years.

  In the early stages of my research, I was fortunate to receive help and encouragement from two of Arthur’s closest friends, the great sportswriter Frank Deford and the legendary agent Donald Dell. Together, they facilitated my initial contact with Jeanne, and in a series of interviews Dell provided essential information about Arthur’s career. Through his comprehensive Rolodex, Dell also provided me with contact information for figures throughout the tennis world, and I am very grateful for his willingness to do so. At several points I relied heavily on Deford’s writings, including the script for the remarkable 1994 documentary film, Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World. But his serious illness and untimely death in May 2017 prevented me from conducting a formal interview with him.

  Fortunately, I was able to interview three of the collaborators who helped craft Arthur’s published memoirs: Cliff Gewecke, Neil Amdur, and Arnold Rampersad. I am g
rateful not only for their writing and editing skills, but also for their willingness to elaborate on the nature and details of their work with Arthur. Without their contributions, which provide vital access to Arthur’s voice and thoughts, this book would have been virtually impossible to write. As an analyst of Arthur’s life, I stand on their shoulders.

  I would also like to acknowledge the important efforts of those who have either authored or edited book-length studies of Ashe. Louie Robinson Jr., John McPhee, Marvin Martin, Richard Steins, Mike Towle, Eric Hall, and Peter Bodo plowed the biographical ground before I did, unearthing and examining important elements of Arthur’s life. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is Eric Hall’s 2015 book, Arthur Ashe: Tennis and Justice in the Civil Rights Era, a revised Purdue University dissertation written under the direction of the noted sports historian Randy Roberts. Hall’s insightful analysis of Arthur’s involvement in the struggle for civil rights aided my own effort to make sense of this challenging topic, and I thank him for his groundbreaking work. I would also be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the value of John McPhee’s sports classic Levels of the Game, as well as the 2014 interview he granted me, conducted in the strangest of circumstances—in the midst of my raucous forty-fifth class reunion at Princeton.

  In addition to the books noted above, three studies of the history of African American tennis—Doug Smith’s Whirlwind, Cecil Harris and Larryette Kyle-DeBose’s Charging the Net, and Sudiata Djata’s Blacks at the Net—include valuable chapters on Arthur Ashe’s rise to prominence. In various ways, each of these authors provided historical context, informing my understanding of Arthur’s role as a racial pioneer.

  Interviews represent a critically important part of the research base upon which this book rests. Many of the interviews were formal attempts at oral history, but others began as casual impromptu conversations about Ashe. Their length and importance varied widely, but each in its own way contributed to my evolving understanding of Ashe’s saga. I conducted many of the formal interviews, but a large number involved the participation of graduate and undergraduate research assistants. Arranging and conducting these interviews was often demanding and challenging, and I owe a great deal to my talented research assistants Erin Hughes, Jackie Inman, Rachel Sanderson, Arielle Stevenson, Nano Riley, and Dara Vance. Working out of the Snell House at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, they formed an indispensable team that helped me when I needed it most.

  The interviewees themselves deserve special mention and my unwavering gratitude for the gift of their time and knowledge. By sharing their memories, experiences, and perspectives, they added immeasurably to the texture and fiber of the book. My thanks to: Seth Abraham, D. A. Abram, Katrina Adams, Leslie Allen, Neil Amdur, Susan Anderson, Johnnie Ashe, Sam Beale, Chris Beck, Timothy Bent, Alex Bloom, Renee Blount, Steve Bond, Nick Bollettieri, Litten Boxser, Butch Buchholz, Cliff Buchholz, Karin Buchholz, Granville Burgess, Trey Burpee, Doris Cammack-Spencer, Lucretia Carrico, Arthur Carrington, Clayborne Carson, Tom Chewning, Bud Collins, Ian Crookenden, Billy Davis, Bobby Davis, Jonathan Davis, Patricia Battles Davis, Donald Dell, Jean Desdunes, David Dinkins, Paul DiPasquale, Steve Dittmann, Kevin Dowdell, Veronica Drake, Cliff Drysdale, Deb Ebner, Harry Edwards, Lou Einwick, Roy Emerson, Bob Farrell, Judith Ferszt, Carlos Fleming, James Floyd Jr., Allen Fox, Marcel Freeman, Marcus Freeman, Frank Froehling, Zina Garrison, Henry Louis Gates, Cliff Gewecke, Brian Gottfried, Clark Graebner, Reginald Green, Traci Green, James Grossman, Shema Grover, Rodney Harmon, Don Harris, Loretta Ashe Harris, Ralph Harris, Skip Hartman, Kate Henchman, Chip Hooper, Lee Irby, Dennis Jenken, Willard Johnson, Lynda Kaplan, Leslie Kelen, Ann Koger, Phil Lucas, Rodney Mandelstam, Eddie Mandeville, Gene Mayer, June Mayfield, Javier Maymi-Perez, John McEnroe Jr., Kay McGuire, Kevin McGuire, Lori McNeil, Steve McNichols, John McPhee, Will Michaels, Ray Moore, Chris Morris, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Toby Muir, Henry Murray, David Myers, Gary Nash, Todd Nelson, John Newcombe, Butch Newman, Jim Nicholson, Steve Northup, Mary Beth Norton, La Chandra Harris Pace, Charlie Pasarell, Martha McMasters Pearson, Gene Policinski, Connie Price, Dennis Ralston, Arnold Rampersad, David Reed, Horace Reid, Mike Reilly, Paul Reilly, Steve Reilly, Cliff Richey, Nancy Richey, Barbara Ricks, Marty Riessen, Randall Robinson, Jefferson Rogers, Robert Ryland, Jeffrey Sammons, David Sanderlin, Kim Sands, Joan Sanger, C. J. Savage, Rowland Scherma, Al Schragis, Bryan Shelton, Charles Sherrod, Diane Shropshire, Bill Simons, Lenny Simpson, Fran Sims, John Sims, Bob Singleton, Fred Slaughter, Bruce Smith, Jolyn Johnson Smith, Paul Smith, Stan Smith, Sherry Snyder, Jack Spong, Dick Stockton, Roscoe Tanner, John Charles Thomas, Willis Thomas, Doug Thompson, Tony Trabert, Pat Turner, Rick Tuttle, Bill Wallace, Sally Wallace, Mal Washington, John Wilkerson, Charles Williams, Owen Williams, Robert Woodrum, Eric Yellin, and Andrew Young. Among these many interviews, my sessions with Tom Chewning, Donald Dell, Cliff Drysdale, Lou Einwick, Loretta Ashe Harris, John McEnroe Jr., Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Charlie Pasarell, Paul DiPasquale, Jeff Rogers, Al Schragis, John Wilkerson, and Andrew Young were especially instructive and eye-opening.

  Archival research lies at the heart of this book—which literally could not have been written without the help and expertise of numerous archivists and librarians. I am greatly indebted to the staffs at the Nelson Poynter Library at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg; the Arthur Schomburg Center for Black Culture, a branch of the New York Public Library; the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) Library in Newport, Rhode Island; the Kenneth Ritchie Library at Wimbledon; the UCLA Sports Information Office; the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA; the Olympic Studies Center in Lausanne, Switzerland; the Richmond Public Library; the St. Louis Public Library; and the Library of Congress. Special thanks to Meredith Miller Richards of ITHF and Meri and Dave Hartford of Artworks Cape Cod for help with the photographs.

  I also received strong institutional support from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, which granted me three semesters of sabbatical leave—the fall semester of 2009, and a full academic year in 2016–17—to work on this book. Generous travel funds attached to the John Hope Franklin Professorship of Southern History were also instrumental to the numerous research trips I was able to undertake during the last eight years. Frank Biafora, the Dean of the USFSP College of Arts and Sciences, supported my work at every turn, and I can’t thank him enough for his faith in my sports history adventure. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Associate Dean Susan Toler and the CAS stalwarts Jennifer Woroner, Jason Morris, Harriet Fletcher, Drew Thomas, and Paul Schulz. I am also very grateful for the support and encouragement I received from Regional Chancellors Margaret Sullivan and Sophia Wisniewska, Vice Chancellors of Academic Affairs Noreen Noonan, Mark Durand, and Martin Tadlock, Dean Bill Heller of the College of Education, and Interim Dean Jeff Cornelius of CAS.

  As always, my colleagues in the Department of History and Politics, which I served as chairman from 2012 to 2016, were always there to back me up when I needed it most. I owe a special debt to Professors Richard Mbato, Sheramy Bundrick, Michael Francis, Peter Golenbock, Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi, Peyton Jones, Hugh Lafollette, Felipe Mantilla, Judith Anne Scourfield McLaughlin, Chris Meindl, Elisa Minoff, Gary Mormino, and Thomas Smith. Thanks also to Veronica Mathews, Daun Fletcher, Catherine Koziol, and Amy Anderson, three outstanding academic program specialists who kept the office running smoothly when I was away. Peter Golenbock deserves special mention as my most enthusiastic cheerleader, perennial doubles partner, and fellow Rays fan during the past fifteen years. Rounding out the Snell House gang is the incomparable Director of Special Events, Joan “Sudsy” Tschiderer, whose interest in the Ashe book went above and beyond what anyone could reasonably expect from a non-tennis-playing soccer fan.

  For many years—and especially during the past decade—a wide circle of friends has provided me with encouragement, intellectual engagement, and countless moments of pleasant diversion from my labors as a historian. Part of this circle goes back as
far my graduate school days in the 1970s, when I first became interested in Arthur Ashe. Many thanks to my loyal Brandeis friends John and Virginia Demos, David Hackett and Judy Fischer, Jennifer Gallop, David and Elaine Gould, the late Jim Green, Mike and Tina Grossberg, Ted and Nan Hammett, Dirk and Nancy Hartog, Jim and Lois Horton, Fred and Holly Hoxie, Mickey and Phyllis Keller, Liz Pleck, Bob and Jan Randolph, Mitchell Snay, David Starr, and Steve and Lee Whitfield. The Goulds deserve special thanks for graciously allowing me to share their Brooklyn home during my periodic research trips to New York. The indispensable man, Steve Whitfield—my dearest friend and most trusted historical advisor for more than forty years—gave me many hours of wise counsel and a close reading of several chapters.

  Another special group of friends—the Sunday morning tennis gathering at the historic St. Petersburg Tennis Center—has boosted my spirits, if not my tennis game, throughout the past decade. Playing on the same soft courts where Arthur Ashe ended his career as an amateur in March 1969, they have never wavered in their determination to put me through my paces on the court while supporting my effort to reconstruct an important part of tennis history. I am grateful for the many hours I have spent either talking or playing tennis with Ann Sackett, CeCe Keeton, Michael Miller, Peter Golenbock, Gary Mormino, Norris Rickey, Peter and Jeanne Meinke, Rich and Mimi Rice, Felipe and Olivia Mantilla, Tracey Maher, Burton and Ellen Hersh, Dave and Marg Radens, Ajay Verghese, Jim Wightman, Babs Ringold, and Kimberley Oliver.