Brook Field Park (1938-1960s)

Arthur Ashe was a groundbreaking athlete for the sport of tennis. He was the first African American to win the Davis Cup, the first to win the US Open and the first to win Wimbledon. Ashe was born in 1943 to Arthur Ashe Sr. who was the supervisor and onsite caretaker for Brook Field Park. Brook Field is also where Ashe met his first mentor and teacher, Ron Charity, who showed Ashe the fundamentals of tennis at age 7. Charity helped guide Ashe’s game until Ashe was taught by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson. Ashe also often practiced with John. A Watson the tennis coach at Virginia Union University, a historically Black university located in Richmond and within walking distance of the site of Brook Field Park. Due to segregation, there were no indoor courts available to Ashe which limited his training in the winter and was a deciding factor in Ashe choosing the University of California Los Angeles.

Richmond was a thoroughly segregated city through redlining, restrictive covenants, public housing policies, and highway construction. Prior to 1937 there were no public park spaces for African Americans. In that year, the Oakwood Playing Fields and a "colored" picnic area at Joseph Bryant Park were constructed. In 1938 through WPA funds, the city of Richmond created a 16-acre park at the current site of the Main Post Office. Brook Field had four tennis courts, a baseball field, a basketball court, and a swimming pool. The facilities at Brook Field made it a social hub for African American residents of the city. It was the site of the only public tennis courts and public pool in the city open to African-Americans at the time. By 1943 only 7% of Richmond’s public parks system were accessible to African-Americans. The Brook Field park was also the boyhood home of Arthur Ashe as his father was the onsite caretaker. 

The city gradually closed facilities at Brook Field starting with the pool around 1960. Some who went to Brook Field as children believed that city officials decided to close the park rather than commit to funding the area and improving facilities and making them open to all. The closure of the park was experienced as a loss to those in the community. During its relatively short time in the city, Brook Field Park was a major gathering place for children and youth, one of the few places in the city where they African Americans could enjoy facilities that had long been available for other residents.

Thanks to local historians and community members, Brook Field has not disappeared from the collective memory and legacy of the city and its role in the life of Arthur Ashe. The park’s role in African-American life during segregation has been highlighted by local journalists and community members who played at Brook Field. Attempts are being made by community members to create a plaque at the post office in order to commemorate the legacy of Brook Field. However, some articles misidentify the place where Ashe learned to play. 

Ashe was a pioneer for African Americans in tennis, but his path to success was beset by racism, both structural and individual. Ashe won national championship in 1965 while at UCLA. Ashe was the first African American to make the US Davis Cup roster, where he helped to win the Davis Cup becoming the first African American to do so. His wins in the 1968 US Open, 1970 Australian Open and 1975 Wimbledon were all firsts for African Americans. Ashe retired from tennis in 1980 after suffering a heart attack. Ashe protested and advocated against apartheid in South Africa during his playing career as well as after he retired. Ashe contracted HIV from a blood transfusion and announced in 1992 that he had AIDS. Ashe passed away from AIDS-related pneumonia on February 6th, 1993. ESPN created the Arthur Ashe Courage Award which honors athletes that exemplify the courage, strength in the face of adversity, and willingness to use their position as athletes to discuss difficult issues. After his death, a statue of Ashe was enshrined on Monument Boulevard in Richmond.

Brook Field Park retains a prominent place in local African American history, but its most famous legacy remains its role as the birthplace of the tennis career of Arthur Ashe. Ashe was a groundbreaking athlete and helped many other Black athletes playing in individual sports in their path to inclusion in tournaments that were previously closed to African Americans. Ashe won championships and broke barriers while playing and used his platform following his career to challenge apartheid in South Africa. His tennis career was shaped by access to a court at Brook Field but also limited by the segregation of his state and the lack of indoor tennis facilities and access to local tournaments. To date, there is not a historical marker to commemorate Brook Field’s history, but its story still lives on in the memories of community members and the storied career of a young boy who was introduced to the game of tennis at this neighborhood park.

·      Editors, History.com “Arthur Ashe becomes first Black man to win Wimbledon” This Day in History July 5th 1975, published 2009 accessed July 31st, 2020 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ashe-becomes-first-Black-man-to-win-wimbledon

·      ESPN “Arthur Ashe Award” The ESPYS accessed July 31st, 2020 http://www.espn.com/espys/arthurasheaward

·      Kneebone, John T. “Arthur Robert Ashe (1943-1993), “Dictionary of Virginia Biography”, Library of Virginia 1998 edited 2019 accessed July 30th, 2020 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Ashe_Arthur_Robert

·      Willis, Samantha “A Place for Us” Richmond Magazine December 12th, 2018 accessed July 30th, 2020https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/a-place-for-us/