28 Days of Little Known Facts About (Black) American History | Arthur Ashe(23)

We are pleased to spotlight Arthur Ashe in day twenty-three of our first annual 28 Days of Little Known Facts About (Black) American History

Ashe, born July 10, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia, became adept at tennis while in elementary school. Under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, who coached the late, great tennis star Althea Gibson, Ashe entered UCLA as a decorated junior player.

After a stint in the United States Army, Ashe went into his pro tennis career and won his first Grand Slam, the US Open, in 1968. In all, Ashe won 66 titles, included singles wins at both the Wimbledon Open and the Australian Open. He is the only Black man to win the singles titles for aforementioned Grand Slam tournaments. Ashe reached the quarterfinals of the French Open twice in his career.

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About The 28 Day Campaign

This informational campaign: 28 Days of Little Known Facts About Black American History will see 540Blog share little known facts about Black Americans throughout history every day throughout the month of February. Those that were groundbreaking and history making but do not necessarily get the media attention and coverage.

Source(s): Black America Web