Series:

Purpose Served: An Oral History of the Exemplary Life of Arthur Ashe, 1943-1993

Topic:

African American History

Sports

Biographical Note:

Renee Blount was interviewed about her connection to tennis player Arthur Ashe. Blount grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and was coached by Richard Hudlin and [Earl Henry] "Butch" Buchholz Sr., who both coached Arthur Ashe when he lived in St. Louis from 1961 to 1962. As a junior, Blount received feedback from Ashe whenever he visited St. Louis. Once she joined the professional tour in 1978, she continued to reach out to him for advice and they maintained a friendship.

Interviewer:

Nwonye, Chinyere

Persons Present:

Blount and Nwonye.

Place Conducted:

The interview was conducted using the Zoom video conferencing platform.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Chinyere Nwonye, an interviewer for the Arthur Ashe Oral History project as part of the UCLA Arthur Ashe Legacy Center. Nwonye is a graduate of UCLA with a background in neuroscience and African American Studies.Nwonye prepared for the interview by reading Arthur Ashe’s Advantage Ashe; Arthur Ashe and Neil Amdur’s Off the Court; Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad’s Days of Grace: A Memoir; Raymond Arsenault’s Arthur Ashe: A Life; and various archival articles from the Los Angeles Times and Daily Bruin. Additionally, to familiarize herself with St. Louis’ history of tennis and race relations, the research also read a selection of articles from the St. Louis Dispatch. Nwonye read a Life magazine article titled “In Tennis, Blacks Take Center Court.” The article featured Ashe, Blount, Leslie Allen, Lawrence “Chip” Hooper III, Lloyd Bourne, and Kim Sands. Nwonye also consulted the oral history interview with Bonnie Logan for additional context about women’s professional tennis.

Processing of Interview:

The interviewer prepared a timed log of the audio recording of the interview. The interviewee was given the opportunity to review the log in order to supply missing or misspelled names and to verify the accuracy of the content.

Length:

4 hrs

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

Purpose Served: An Oral History of the Exemplary Life of Arthur Ashe, 1943-1993 is an initiative of the Arthur Ashe Legacy Fund (AALF) at UCLA and is funded by AALF and by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. By launching an oral history project to document and capture the firsthand recollections of Ashe’s colleagues, associates, family, and friends, UCLA was fulfilling its commitment to the Arthur Ashe Learning Center to document and disseminate the considerable impact of one of its most significant graduates.In his memoir Days of Grace Arthur Ashe stated, "I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.” Although this series provides a comprehensive account of Ashe’s considerable accomplishments as a tennis player, it also offers a substantial number of first-person accounts of historical moments and stories beyond the scope of tennis. Ashe’s ascent in the tennis world coincided with many important developments in the sport: the onset of the Open Era, the shift from a mostly “country club” sport to the public arena, the commercialization of tennis, and the rise of the celebrity athlete. But his life also intersected with a number of significant milestone in the second half of the twentieth century, including the civil rights and women’s movements, the Vietnam War, the fall of apartheid in South Africa, and the AIDS/HIV crisis. In their reflections on Ashe’s work and activism, participants in this series share stories of his engagement with these crucial moments in U.S. history. Finally, the series also contains information about segregation; student life at UCLA in the 1960s; ROTC; West Point; Black life in Richmond, Virginia and St. Louis, Missouri; the work of TransAfrica and Artists and Athletes against Apartheid; and the relatively unknown histories of the American Tennis Association and Dr. Robert Walter Johnson’s Summer Tennis Camp.Interviewees were sought across the country and internationally, reflecting Ashe’s broad swath of associates and his status as a prominent athlete and a respected public intellectual. Although the series reflects his entire life, special attention was given to locating childhood friends, military associates, and fellow students in St. Louis and at UCLA. Participants who could speak of his devotion to support youth in the sport and his activism were also included in this series.The series commenced months before the COVID-19 pandemic, so many of the initial interviews align with traditional oral history methodology in being conducted in person. After stay-at-home orders were initiated across the country in March of 2020, interviews were conducted via the Zoom video conferencing platform. Many of these sessions were preserved on video recordings as well as audio recordings.

Renee Blount was born on May 12, 1957 in Washington, D.C. – Parents met while studying at Howard University, eventually marrying – Family moved to St. Louis Missouri in 1960 – Blount’s father, Dr. Lee Blount, introduced her to tennis at age ten – Began training with Richard Hudlin around 1968 – Frequently experienced racial harassment from white adult spectators while playing – Met Arthur Ashe for the first time in the mid-1960s at the St. Louis Armory – Family’s commitment to developing her tennis – Inducted into the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997 – Parents’ involvement in the Civil Rights Movement – Mentored by Ashe throughout her life – Played on the men’s tennis team for Dr. Robert Screen at Hampton University in the mid-1970s. – Ashe welcomed her to the Player’s Club when she reached Wimbledon in 1981.

Trained with [Earl Henry] “Butch” Buchholz, Sr. and his sons – Taught Buchholz’s drills to student Max Schnur, who made it to Wimbledon in 2017 – Trained with other St. Louis tennis players, including Carol Hanks Aucamp and Mary-Ann Eisel – Left Hampton University after a year to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) around 1975 – Experienced a welcoming UCLA environment – Shared a dinner with Ashe and Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe in Sydney, Australia in late-70s or early-80s – Historic victory at the Avon Futures of Columbus in 1979 – Billie Jean King’s influence over the professional women’s tour – Visited Ashe at his New York apartment during late 1980s to get advice – Retired from the professional tour and built her tennis farm in Keswick, Virginia.