A History of Tennis in St. Paul's Black Community
The purpose of this project is to research, preserve, and make available to the public the history of a mostly overlooked aspect of the African American community—participation in tennis as a social and educational force and competitive athletic activity. The project's scope runs from the turbulent civil rights era of the late '60s when teaching pro, educator, and champion player Ernie Greene began introducing members of the community to the game of tennis to the founding of the MLK Tennis Buffs Club to the present day. Members of the MLK Tennis Buffs continue the tradition of tennis-centered education, support, social interaction, and competition.
Our goals for the project are to create a vivid, enduring record of a little-known dimension of African American experience in Minnesota, to capture a constellation of memories from a significant period in civil rights and amateur athletics history, and to lay the groundwork for a literary and a cinematic production that will present this material in engaging and broadly accessible formats.
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$4,500,000 the first year and $6,500,000 the second year are for history programs and projects operated or conducted by or through local, county, regional, or other historical or cultural organizations or for activities to preserve significant historic and cultural resources. Funds are to be distributed through a competitive grant process. The Minnesota Historical Society must administer these funds using established grant mechanisms, with assistance from the advisory committee created under Laws 2009, chapter 172, article 4, section 2, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), item (ii).
Available upon request. grants@mnhs.org
Short Term and Intermediate Term Outcomes were achieved.
The Oral history committee within the MLK Tennis Buffs met on average every two weeks to discuss and move the project forward. The committee did a good job planning and estimating everyone's workloads and honestly assessing our capabilities measured against the desired outcome of this grant.
After going through vendor selection process that involved several meetings in person and online with the entire board of the MLK Tennis Buffs, a vendor was selected that could not only provide the expertise needed but also act as mentor for the Oral History committee for the next time we tackle a similar project.
Creating a living document of the narrators whose stories we want to capture also helped us navigate absences, in ability to travel or simply not wanted to participate. This helped us maintain our goal of 12 oral histories.
Long Term Outcomes will have to be assessed at a later date.
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org