A New Exhibit Tells The Story Of The First Recorded Golf Tournament At This Historically Black Course

philip lewis

Mon, 10 Feb 2025, 12:33 pm·3-min read

Asha Abdul-Mujeeb looks at her photo exhibit, "Swinging For Equity: Eastern Golf Championship." Asha Abdul-Mujeeb

In1940,most had grown accustomed to seeing heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis decisively winning his fights with his fists. That year, however, the boxer participated in a very different type of sporting match — one that required a golf club.

Louis, an avid golf fan, played in the first recorded tournament held at the historic Langston Golf Course on Benning Road in northeastern Washington, D.C., one of the 20 golf courses that allowed Black Americans to play during Jim Crow.

Louis’ fame drew several thousand Black Washingtonians, fans and spectators to the Eastern Golf Tournament, many of whom came to watch the superstar amateur hit the links. However, the tournament also featured pioneering golf clubs like the Wake-Robin Golf Club, the oldest golf club for Black women in the country.

Asha Abdul-Mujeeb wants to ensure their contributions to the sport aren’t erased.

Abdul-Mujeeb, an archives and curatorial intern for the golf-centered nonprofit National Links Trust, curated the “Swinging For Equity: Eastern Golf Championship” photo exhibit. It tells the story of the famed tournament, its participants, and the historic golf course. The exhibit is on display and open to the public during February at Langston’s clubhouse.

She uncovered more than 60 photos and newspaper clippings from the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and more to create the exhibit. But it wasn’t easy, she said.

“When you think about traditional archives, Black people have always been erased,” said Abdul-Mujeeb, 27. “The fact that I had to do as much digging to find out about this tournament is a clear reflection of that. If a student came here and wanted to write a story about Black golf, they may not be able to find much about Langston Golf Course.”

A visitor takes a photo of the "Swinging For Equity" exhibit. National Links Trust

When visitors walk into the Langston clubhouse, they are walking into a museum of sorts — the building has largely remained the same since the course’s opening in 1939. The exhibit is in two rooms within the clubhouse, with photos of Louis and prominent Black golfers like Claude Ross and George Adams along the walls. Clippings from Black-owned newspapers, The AFRO and The Atlanta Daily World, are also displayed.

Abdul-Mujeeb made sure to prominently feature the Black women golfers of the era in the exhibit. “I was very intentional about including the impact of the women in golf, specifically the Black women of the Wake-Robin Golf Club,” she said. “When you think about the reporting of the era and gender, the photographers of the time were trying to capture Joe Louis and the men. They weren’t thinking to capture the women golfers.”

Vicki Smith, a past president of the Wake-Robin Golf Club, appreciated seeing the club’s history highlighted.

“This exhibit helps get our history out there,” she explained. “A lot of people don’t know about the Wake-Robin, the Royals … there’s so much history here. This exhibit is going to prove that we’ve been in the game of golf forever.”

The photo exhibit is just the beginning. Abdul-Mujeeb is working on a broader project to explore the history of Black golf in the nation’s capital.

“In a time when the current administration is stripping away DEI programming and history,” she said, “the work I’m doing is giving people a little hope, making them feel seen, making them know that someone’s listening to their stories, that someone’s preserving them, and that their stories are important.”

Related...