American Tennis Association Expands Black Tennis Nationally in 1920s

Founded in 1916, the American Tennis Association—the oldest Black sports organization in the U.S.—expanded rapidly in the early 1920s. The first women's national champion was Lucy Diggs Slowe in 1917, the first Black female national champion in any sport. Through the 1920s, women like Isadore Channels and Ora Washington dominated ATA tournaments; Washington would go on to win eight national titles. The ATA provided a competitive framework for Black athletes excluded from the United States National Lawn Tennis Association.