ArthurAshe21g5

=Arthur Ashe (1943-1993)=

==Overview== Arthur Ashe was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Tired of having to travel great distances to play other kids in segregated Richmond, Ashe accepted an offer from a St. Louis tennis official to move there and attend Sumner High School. From there he was awarded a tennis scholarship from UCLA. After winning the US Open in 1968, he wished to play in the South African Open. However, this was not to be because he was denied a visa. Apalled by this action he publicized the atrocities imposed by the South African apartheid government. He also called for South Africa to be removed from the professional tennis circuit. In 1988, it was discovered that he contracted HIV during a blood transfusion. In 1993 he finally succumbed to this disease. He did much to publicize this once obscure disease.

Obituary
[|Obituary from the New York Times]