Advocacy
The Arthur Ashe Legacy Project
Patricia Turner has been the director of the Arthur Ashe Legacy Project at UCLA since 2016. Committed to preserving the remarkable intellectual, athletic and political legacy of Arthur Ashe ’66, the Arthur Ashe Legacy Project supports multiple on-going efforts that exemplify Ashe’s values and contributions to the world. The project takes many forms, including teaching, oral history, public advocacy at the US Open, and a scholarship.
Photo: At the Arthur Ashe Legacy booth with volunteers, and the late Arthur Ashe’s roommate, tennis great Charlie Passarell.
Teaching
Understanding the Second Half of the Twentieth Century Through the Life of Arthur Ashe
Designed and taught by Professor Turner, this UCLA freshman seminar introduces students to full scope of Ashe’s life as a lens through which to view American history. Topics include Ashe’s early years playing tennis in the Jim Crow south, his storied tennis career, his long engagement with the peoples of South Africa, his contributions as a public intellectual, his profound health challenges, and many other topics.
Photo: Professor Turner with her Fiat Lux seminar group and guest speakers - tennis legends Charlie Passarell and Donald Dell, along with oral historian Chinyere Nwonye.
Public Advocacy
The Arthur Ashe booth at the US Open
Each year UCLA alumni and Ashe devotees staff a booth at the US Open, home of Arthur Ashe Stadium. For the full run of the popular grand slam tournament—Arthur Ashe was the first male winner in 1968—tennis fans can purchase assorted good with all of the proceeds directed at the Arthur Ashe Legacy fund at UCLA.
Preserving the History
The Arthur Ashe Oral History and Archival Project
In 2020, Turner and the Arthur Ashe team were awarded a planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Those resources enabled them to move forward on an oral history project devoted to collecting stories from individuals who knew Ashe.
Photo: Chinyere Nwonye, Harriette Mandeville, Dr. Edgar (Eddie) Mandeville, Yolanda Hester