Ora Washington

Ora Mae Washington
Born	(1898-01-23)January 23, 1898
Died	December 21, 1971(1971-12-21) (aged 73)

Orel Mae Washington (January 23, 1898 – 1971) was an American athlete from the Germantown section of Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known as the "Queen of Tennis".

Life

In professional tennis, she won the American Tennis Association's national singles title eight times in nine years between 1929–1937 and 12 straight double championships.

She played basketball first in 1930 with the Germantown Hornets where her 22-1 record earned her the national female title. Later, playing with the Philadelphia Tribunes from 1932–1942, she was the team's center, leading scorer, and coach. The "Tribune Girls" won 11 straight Women’s Colored Basketball World’s Championships. Washington was said to be "the best Colored player in the world."

Unable to compete against the top white tennis player of the time, Helen Wills Moody, because Moody refused to play her, she retired from sports in the mid-1940s. For the remainder of her life, she supported herself as a housekeeper. She died in 1971 in Germantown and was buried in her Virginia hometown.

In the mid-1980s, she was inducted to Temple University's Sports Hall of Fame.

A state historical marker stands at the location of the Colored YWCA she taught and played at, at 6128 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, now home to Settlement Music School.

In 2009, Washington was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Further reading

• Wiggins, David K. (editor) Out of the Shadows: A Biographical History of African American Athletes. University of Arkansas Press, 2006.