January 23, 1898 - Ora Mae Washington, hall of fame athlete considered by many the finest female athlete of the 1920s and 1930s, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington began playing tennis in 1924 and by 1929 was the national si...ngles champion of the American Tennis Association, the oldest African American sports organization in the United States. She won that title eight times in the nine years between 1929 and 1937 and won 12 straight doubles championships. Due to segregation and the unwillingness of white players to take the challenge, Washington was not able to prove that she was the best women’s tennis player in the country. In 1931, in the midst of her tennis career, Washington began playing basketball for the Philadelphia Tribune team, black America’s first premier sports team. The Tribune only lost six times in games played during the 1930s. Washington played basketball for 18 years. After retiring from sports, Washington supported herself as a housekeeper. Washington died May 28, 1971 and in 2009 was posthumously inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
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