Robert W. Johnson

Based in Lynchburg

Dr. Robert W. Johnson’s work to improve access to the sport of tennis greatly facilitated the development of tennis as a competitive sport in the Virginia Interscholastic Association. He had been an All-American running back at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Meharry Medical School in Nashville, TN, and established a successful practice in Lynchburg. An accomplished player himself, he worked for more than 30 years to integrate tennis tournaments at the local, state, and national levels. To provide better training for young African Americans, he founded the Junior Development Program of the American Tennis Association. He hosted tennis camps at his Lynchburg, VA home and provided transportation to local and regional tournaments at his own expense. His guidance was a strong influence on the development of Grand Slam Champions Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, Jr. who broke down racial barriers in the 1950s and 1960s. In his honor, Virginia State University hosts the Annual Dr. Robert W. Johnson Memorial Tennis Invitational. Dr. Johnson was elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972 and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979. His home and the adjoining tennis court were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.