Children learn history of African Americans in tennis

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of children from five Wilmington community centers had the opportunity to see a special exhibit at Cape Fear Community College on Tuesday.

One Love Tennis partnered with Cape Fear Community College and the International Tennis Hall of Fame to bring “Breaking the Barriers” to Wilmington.

One Love Tennis Executive Director Lenny Simpson consulted on the curating of the original exhibit and organized the field trip for the kids.

“It’s about education. It’s about history. It’s about knowing your history and the people that have come before you that have made the sacrifices in this great game of tennis,” Simpson said.

“I want every kid, every adult in this town to know about the history of black tennis, that black people were playing tennis from 1874 to 2016,” Simpson said.

The exhibit blends a timeline of photos, newspaper articles and history.

The original exhibit only included a timeline from 1874 to 1975. A second part was later created to show a timeline of events from 1975 to 2016.

Simpson said this is the first time the two exhibits have been shown together.

Cape Fear Community College will also host a documentary screening about tennis legend Althea Gibson on February 15 at 6 p.m.

The “Breaking the Barriers” exhibit is free and open to the public at Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station until February 16.