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Do not destroy the Hiawatha golf course
My father's name is above the door.
By Solomon Hughes Jr.
August 29, 2022 at 10:45PM
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My name is Solomon Hughes Jr., the only son of Solomon Hughes Sr., representing the Hughes family. We are adamantly opposed to changing the Hiawatha course from 18 to nine holes ("9-hole Hiawatha course advances," Aug. 18), and we ask the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board to vote against it, again, on Sept. 7. Nine holes is not a compromise; it is an affront to my family and our community.
During Jim Crow, many cities had nine-hole courses for Black people, a fact that limited access, enforcing segregation in public places. In 1928, Gary, Ind., opened an 18-hole course for white people, and a few years later, a nine-hole course for Black people. In 1938, the Park Board opened Hiawatha's 18 holes to Black golfers. In 1940, there were about 5,000 courses in the U.S. Twenty of them allowed Black golfers to play. Hiawatha holds rich historical significance in the realm of civil rights and equal access for all.
Solomon Hughes Sr. came from Alabama to Minneapolis in 1943, after winning national championships on the United Golfers Association (UGA) circuit. He made Hiawatha his home golf course, practicing for tournaments and teaching golf, becoming part of the community of people of color at Hiawatha who were playing and competing at a professional 18-hole course. Since the 1930s, Hiawatha has hosted dozens of 18-hole championship golf tournaments.
From the day he arrived, he joined the fight against "whites only" at Hiawatha clubhouse and changed that in 1952. Now that clubhouse bears his name. He'd become friends with Joe Louis in Alabama and later won the Joe Louis Open in Detroit. When Louis asked my father to be his coach and help him break the color barrier at the PGA, he chose to stay in Minneapolis to look after his young family, and recommended Ted Rhodes, a fellow Black golfer he'd also given lessons to, as a coach. From 1948 to 1952, my father and Ted Rhodes fought to gain entry into the PGA-sponsored St. Paul Open. He led pioneering changes, creating a path that would allow Black golfers, like Rhodes, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder, and eventually one of the greatest players ever, Tiger Woods, to play in the PGA.
The Park Board, to quote its website, has been "working on equity, inclusion and diversity since 2011." But today, the Park Board is trying to divide communities of color, to promote its nine-hole, not-a-compromise plan. The same Park Board that fixed water problems caused by Minnehaha Creek at Meadowbrook Golf Course and never proposed destroying the 18-hole course there. The same board that fixed water problems at Columbia Golf Course and never talked about a Jim Crow nine-hole course there. Equity?
My dad taught me that sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do. It is my hope that the Park Board will do the right thing: avoid the water hazards of your nine-hole, not-a-compromise plan and re-engage the community to drive for a green solution that does not destroy this historic 18-hole cultural treasure.
Solomon Hughes Jr. lives in Big Lake.
about the writer
Solomon Hughes Jr.
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