THE FIRST GOLDEN ERA IN AFRICAN AMERICAN SPORTS

The 1920s were in many respects the first golden era of sports in the United States. Virtually all sports grew and prospered during this period. Already well established, boxing, baseball, and football now rose to even greater stature.

As a result of the efforts in the early 20th century of organizations including the Colored (later the Central) Intercollegiate Athletic Association, track and field emerged as a popular organized athletic activity among African Americans of all ages.

The successes of the first African American professional basketball team of note, the Harlem Renaissance Big Five, helped immensely to popularize the sport among all races.

Tennis and golf were able to make modest inroads into the African American world of sports in the 1920s owing to the work in particular of two black athletic organizations: the American Tennis Association, founded in 1916, and the United Golfers Association, established in 1926.