(1943 – 1993) Eight years after being turned away from the Richmond City Tennis Tournament in 1955 because of his race, Ashe became the first African American on the US Davis Cup team, where he remained for fifteen years. His two Grand Slam triumphs included the 1968 US Open at Forest Hills and the 1975 Wimbledon tournament.

Ashe’s dominance in tennis was limited by his commitment to social and political issues off the court. In 1973 Ashe was allowed into South Africa to play in its Open tournament, but received criticism from the African National Congress. Later, he became an outspoken critic of the South African government, and in 1985 was arrested at a protest rally against apartheid in Washington, DC. He was also arrested while protesting the Bush administration’s treatment of Haitian refugees. Other public work included support for the NCAA’s introduction of minimum requirements for college athletes (Proposition 48).

Ashe’s playing career ended in 1979 because of heart problems. After by-pass surgery in 1983, he contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion. After his death, ironically controversy arose as citizens and the city administration moved to place a memorial statue on Monument Row in Richmond, Virginia which had generally honored white Confederate heroes.