On View
Sports Gallery
Exhibition
Sports: Leveling the Playing Field
Distributed by
Bobby Jones Golf Course, American, founded 1932
Subject of
City of Atlanta Department of Parks & Recreation, American, founded 1858
Wilson, Billy, British
Date
ca. 1956
Medium
ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 5 1/8 × 8 3/4 in. (13 × 22.2 cm)
Caption
Billy Wilson was the Professional Manager of the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1933 until 1963. Atlanta’s Municipal Code prohibited African Americans from using public parks and recreational sites by law. Wilson had denied access to the Bobby Jones Golf Course to Tup Holmes, Hamilton M. Holmes, Oliver Holmes, and Charles Bell based on this municipal code. Wilson explained, “It would violate the city ordinance to allow Negroes to use the golf course because it is designated for whites.” In 1955, Tup Holmes's case Holmes v. Atlanta, the case that desegregated public golf, went all the way to the Supreme Court, where in 1955 the Court ruled favor of Holmes.
Description
A scorecard for the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia. The scorecard folds into thirds, forming a small pamphlet. It is printed on white paper with color images, illustrations, and black text. On the front panel of the scorecard is the name of the course, manager’s name and telephone number printed near the top, in a white box with black text that reads [CITY OF ATLANTA / PARKS & RECREATION DEPT. / BOBBY JONES / golf course / Billy Wilson, Professional / Phone CE. 3-9172] against an image of a golf green, trees, lake, and a sand trap. The back two panels of the scorecard pamphlet is a yellow, illustrated map of the golf course. The left interior panel has two lists of rules with the titles, [LOCAL RULES] and [GOLF RULES AND ETIQUETTE]. The center and right interior panels of the pamphlet is the scorecard laid out in a grid. The top row of the grid identifies the hole numbers, the yards are listed across the second row, par across the third row, and strokes across the fourth row. Handicap and net scores are column headers of the left two columns and the bottom two rows are to record won and lost. There are no marks on the front, back or interior pages of the scorecard.
Place used
Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Classification
Documents and Published Materials
Type
cards
Topic
American South
Golf
Law
Recreation
Segregation
Sports
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Carl Seldon
Object number
2016.34.2
Restrictions & Rights
Unknown - Restrictions Possible
Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5c7af514f-04ba-4f0c-bcb9-6f959865ba8b

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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