Arthur Robert Ashe was a Black tennis player and human rights activist who became one of the greatest tennis players in American history. To date he is the first and only Black man to win the singles title in three of tennis' Grand Slam events, the U.S. Open (1968), the Australian Open (1970), and Wimbledon (1975) as well as the doubles title in the French Open (1971) and Australian Open (1977). Ashe was also the first Black male player on the U.S. Davis Cup team. He was given the prestigious title of Davis Cup captain. The photograph was taken at the 1971 Richmond Invitational Tennis Tournament at the height of Ashe’s tennis career.
Ashe was born on July 10, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia. He grew up in a segregated community. He banned from playing and practicing on the city's tennis courts, which were only open to white players at that time. Ashe was, however, able to find coaches who were willing to assist in his development as a player, in both Richmond and Lynchburg, Virginia. Although he was banned from competing in many elite tennis competitions that were open to whites only, his talent did not go unseen. After graduating as valedictorian of his high school class, Ashe was offered a scholarship to play tennis at the University of California at Los Angeles. Ashe soared in academics and athletics during his time at UCLA. He helped his team win the national championship. After receiving a business degree from UCLA, Ashe joined the U.S Army and served for 2 years while still competing in professional tennis competitions.
As a well-known civil rights activist, Ashe was clear about his opposition to the apartheid system in South Africa which oppressed and suppressed Black South Africans. Ashe’s open criticism of the Apartheid government led to his visa being denied when he applied to play in the 1970 South African Open. This only encouraged him to apply repeatedly for visas and to continue to speak out against apartheid. In 1973, Ashe was granted a visa to travel and play in the South African Open. He promptly won the title in doubles and finished second in the singles division. He would go on to win more championships and use his prominent role in tennis as a means to make social change.
Towards the end of his career Ashe suffered from heart problems. He retired from tennis with an overall record (Open era) of 33 titles. In retirement, Ashe focused his efforts on humanitarian work. He a sponsored an extensive research project resulting in a three-volume history, A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete. Ashe's ongoing heart problems, however, necessitated multiple surgeries, including a blood transfusions. It was from the blood transfusions that Ashe contracted the HIV virus which causes AIDS. The HIV/ AIDS virus was not well known as the time and research was only in the beginning stages. At the time Ashe contracted HIV, it was almost always a death sentence.
Ashe decided to keep his diagnosis private, but felt he had to share it publicly before USA Today ran a story on him having the virus. Following Ashe's announcement, he concentrated his efforts on research and education regarding HIV/AIDS. Ashe left a legacy not only in world of tennis, but also in the creation of Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health which still operates today. He also established the Virginia Heroes program which provides role models and mentors to middle school students in Richmond Public Schools.
Arthur Ashe died on February 6, 1993 in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Flags flew at half-mast and his casket lay in state in the Executive Mansion. To honor his life and legacy, the main stadium at the Untitled States Tennis Center, home the US Open, in New York City is named Arthur Ashe Stadium. In Richmond, a statue is dedicated to him near the Virginia Fine Arts Museum and a major city thoroughfare was re-named Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
Citations: Arthur Ashe—Arthur Ashe at serve, Central Fidelity Bank Invitational Tennis Tournament, 1971 Robert Hart Photograph Collection. Manuscripts & Special Collections, Visual Studies Collection, Library of Virginia. Arthur Ashe. In Virginia Memory. Retrieved From http://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/lesson_plans/arthur_ashe [viewed 2 September 2015]
Kneebone, John T. "Ashe, Arthur Robert." Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1:226-228. John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tarter, and Sandra Gioia Treadway, editors. Richmond, VA: The Library of Virginia,1998.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph, what is happening in the image? Why might have this event been important?
Post Activities
Analyze: How did Arthur Ashe leverage his popularity to become a voice for civil rights and early HIV/AIDS research? What other skills did he have which may have been relevant to his success? Explain.
Current Connections: HIV/AIDS is a virus that was not well understood in the early 1990’s. Considering the recent Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, has our collective understanding of how viruses operate changed? Why is more research needed to address viruses like HIV still needed? Explain.
Social Media Spin: create a social media to describe the drama and excitement of this photo. Use detail from events in Ashe’s life in the post.
On the morning of September 11, 2001 four flights were hijacked by members of the Islamic extremist group, al- Qaeda, in coordinated attack against the United States. All four hijacked planes were scheduled to be cross-country flights from the East Coast to California. American Airlines Flight 11 (81 passengers, 11 crew, 5 hijackers) and United Airlines Flight 175 (56 passengers, 9 crew, 5 hijackers) left Logan International Airport in Boston, MA bound for Los Angeles. Both flights were hijacked and were crashed into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Flight 11 struck the north tower and Flight 175 struck the south tower. The impact of the planes and extreme damage caused towers to fall within two hours. The Capital Building or the White House were believed to be another target of the attack. United Airlines Flight 93 (37 passengers, 7 crew, 4 hijackers) left Newark International Airport bound for San Francisco and was hijacked over Ohio. Upon hearing of the other attacks, the passengers revolted against the hijackers and the plane was crashed in Shanksville, PA. American Airlines Flight 77 (58 passengers, 6 crew, 5 hijackers) left Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles and was crashed into the Pentagon. There was a total of 2,996 victims of the 9/11 attack including the 19 al- Qaeda hijackers.
The Pentagon, located in Arlington, Virginia, is the world's largest low-rise office building and is home to the United States Department of Defense. Construction began in 1941 and was completed by 1943. The photograph shows the damage which resulted from the plane impact on September 11, 2001. Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon which caused an intense and ferocious fire. The section of the building struck was the only portion of the Pentagon that had been renovated at that time. The renovations included installing blast-resistant windows, making structural improvements, and adding sprinkler systems. The ongoing renovations meant the area was only half populated which reduced the number casualties on the ground. However, there were still 125 people who lost their lives inside the Pentagon that day.
Following the attacks, the Pentagon Renovation Program, nicknamed the Phoenix Project, set a goal to complete all reconstruction within one year of the attacks. By the first anniversary, the goal was met, offices at the point of impact had been restored, and people were working in those offices. Since the attacks, many memorials have been dedicated to remembering the victims and the first responders who saved many lives, including a memorial erected at the Pentagon which honors the184 lives lost in the attack, those on Flight 77, those who died in the pentagon, and the families of the victims.
Citations: Pentagon—photo courtesy of Edwin C. Bearss
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. FAQ about 9/11. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.911memorial.org/
Vogel, S. The Pentagon. (2011, April 7). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Pentagon_The.
Preview Activities
Look at It: Look at the photo of the Pentagon on 9/11. Photos of tragic events often invoke feeling in the viewer. How does this photo make you feel? Why?
Post Activities
Analyze: What might have been some reasons that the Pentagon was a target of the 9/11 attacks? Think about what government agencies are found in the Pentagon.
Be the Journalist: You are a journalism student writing a short article on the impacts of 9/11. What fact would you include? How would describe the damage to the Pentagon to individuals who might not have seen the actual event unfold?
STEM STAT: Examine the photo of the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack. From the photo, what can you tell about the plane's angle of entry and the subsequent damage to the building? Be specific.
At the close of the Civil War and after the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, all male citizens, regardless of their race or previous status, were supposed to be able to vote. However, many states, including Virginia, found ways to exclude Black men from voting in spite of having this right. In 1965, these discriminatory practices were outlawed under the federal Voting Rights Acts which allowed many Black Americans to vote for the first time.
It was a challenge to get all eligible voters to the polls in many communities as polling stations were often located in difficult to access areas. In order to promote the importance of registering to vote this poster, created in 1970, invokes the name of Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Advertisement campaigns using this type of imagery were not uncommon and were often effective reminders of the importance of having the right to vote.
Social Studies: VS.1, VS.8, VS.9, USII.1, USII.3, USII.4, USII.9, CE.1, CE.3, VUS.1, VUS.7, VUS.14, GOVT.1, GOVT.18, GOVT.19
Art: 4.1, 5.1
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the broadside, what might have been the intent of this broadside poster?
Post Activities
Analyze: Civil Rights icon and leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated two years before this poster was printed. To what extent is using his name important in the drive for voter registration?
Artistic Exploration: Make a voting registration poster with the image of a notable person. Who did you choose and why?
Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931–) was sworn in as governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990. Wilder, a grandson of enslaved peoples, made history in 1985 when he became the first Black person elected to statewide office in Virginia.
Wilder was a student in Richmond's racially segregated public schools. He attended George Mason Elementary and Armstrong High School. In 1951, he graduated from Virginia Union University with a degree in chemistry. After college, he served in the army during the Korean War. He won the Bronze Star for heroism in combat. After the war, Wilder returned to Richmond and worked in the state medical examiner's office as a chemist. He went on to study law at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He received his degree Juris Doctor in 1959. After passing the bar examination in Virginia, he established his own law firm, Wilder, Gregory, and Associates. Wilder entered politics in 1969, running in a special election for the Virginia State Senate. He became the first Black state senator in the state since the Reconstruction era. He was sworn in as lieutenant governor in 1986. In 1990, he became the nation's first elected Black governor serving from 1990 until 1994.
The photograph shows the swearing in ceremony when Wilder became the 66th Governor of Virginia. Witnesses to the inauguration were the new governor's daughter, son, and daughter-in-law, flanking him in the photo. Retired United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell (1907–1998) administered the oath of office, and behind Wilder is retiring Virginia Governor Gerald L. Baliles (1940–).
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph, what is happening in the image? Why might have this event been important?
Post Activities
Art Exploration: Design a poster or button to commemorate the anniversary of the event.
Social Media Spin: Create s social media post to describe Douglas Wilder and the historic nature of this event.
Current Connections: Wilder’s election was the first of its kind in Virginia. Are there any other elections in which the winning candidate for office broke boundaries? Your responses can be based on state, national, or international examples.
In 1919, at the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s (NAWSA) conference, President Carrie Chapman Catt proposed in her address the creation of a “league of women voters to finish the fight and aid in the reconstruction of the nation”. In 1920, just six months prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the National League of Women Voters (NLWV) was established in Chicago. Catt described the purpose of the NLWA as “The League of Women Voters is not to dissolve any present organization but to unite all existing organizations of women who believe in its principles. It is not to lure women from partisanship but to combine them in an effort for legislation which will protect coming movements, which we cannot even foretell, from suffering the untoward conditions which have hindered for so long the coming of equal suffrage. Are the women of the United States big enough to see their opportunity?” The League of Women Voters was part of the national organization and worked within the state to support the suffrage movement, advance legislative goals, and provide citizen education for all those who had the right to vote.
The League of Women Voters in Virginia is still an active organization which promotes active participation in government, educating the public on policy issues, and advocating for voter empowerment. In 2001, the League of Women Voters of Virginia celebrated National Women's History Month by producing a leaflet entitled "Virginia Women's Legacies." The pamphlet described thirty Virginia women with historical significance which included: Ida Stover (mother of President Dwight D. Eisenhower), Anne Spencer (internationally distinguished Harlem Renaissance poet) and Yvonne Bond Miller (Virginia's first African American woman legislator).
There were other notable women listed in the pamphlet. Read here form more information in their contributions:
Martha "Matty" Cocke
Ella Graham Agnew
Sarah "Sallie" Dooley
Florence Aby Blanchfield
Patsy Cline
Citation: Bernice Colvard, Virginia Women's Legacies: National Women's History Month, Richmond, Va.: League of Women Voters of Virginia, [2001], HQ1438.V8 C65 2001, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the article. What words or phrases stand out to you? Why do you think the designer of the pamphlet chose to use this layout and organization?
Post Activities
Art Exploration: Design a poster to accompany this pamphlet which would appeal to modern audience. Include concepts or information from the pamphlet as part of your design.
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post or tweet that could have been sent out to describe the importance of the Virginia women highlighted in the pamphlet.
Be the Journalist: Using the pamphlet, write a short article about four of the women included in the pamphlet. In your article, explain why you chose the four women and how they contributed to the history of women in Virginia
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the document, what is the purpose of the album?
Post Activities
Be the Journalist: You are a journalism student writing a short article on the impacts of 9/11. What fact would you include? How would describe the damage to the Pentagon to individuals who might not have seen the actual event unfold?
Current Connections: Now, many years after the events of September 11, is there another event that you would want memorialized in the same way? Why or why not?