(1899-1971)
The desegregation of tennis was due in large part to the efforts of Dr. R. Walter "Whirlwind" Johnson. The first African American to earn staff privileges at Lynchburg General Hospital, he also worked to overcome barriers keeping young African Americans out of tennis. As founder of the Junior Development Program of the American Tennis Association, Johnson sponsored African-American players from across the country in tournaments and coached and mentored them on a court here at his home. Among those he trained were Wimbledon Champions Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. Johnson was posthumously inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.| HM Number | HM1EM4 |
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| Tags | |
| Marker Number | Q-6 27 |
| Year Placed | 2011 |
| Placed By | Department of Historic Resources |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, October 13th, 2014 at 11:57pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17S E 663656 N 4141197 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 37.40311667, -79.15095000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 37° 24.187', W 79° 9.057' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 37° 24' 11.22" N, 79° 9' 3.42" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 434 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 1422 Pierce St, Lynchburg VA 24501, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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