Preserving History & Legacies
A SWAC Legend
Arnett William “Ace” Mumford was one of the masterminds who laid the foundation for black college football in the southwest.
He was born on November 26, 1898 in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He graduated from Wilberforce University. in 1923. His first coaching job was at Jarvis Christian College from 1924-26. He spent the next two years at Bishop College (1927-29) and Texas College (1931-35), where he won his first national championship. He took the head coaching job at Southern University, where he settled down from 1936 until his retirement in 1961.
He built the Jaguars into a football powerhouse, winning five national championships while competing against the Eddie Robinson-led Grambling Tigers and the rest of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. They won three consecutive titles from 1948-50 and the final one in 1954.
Mumford compiled an impressive career college football record of 233–85–23.
The talented leader also coached Southern men’s basketball team to the 1941 black national championship in basketball by taking the National Invitational Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament.
Besides being a member of the Southern and SWAC Halls of Fame, Mumford was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
2018-2019
SEPTEMBER CELEBRATIONS
This Month in Black College History
This Month in Black College Sports History….1871 Alcorn State University was the first black land grant college in the country…1875 Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University was established as a normal school for Negroes in Huntsville, Alabama…1971 The first Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Football Classic (sponsored by the National Urban League) was played between Morgan State University and Grambling State University at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The game was won by Morgan State, 9-7…1946 Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern began the Labor Day Classic series played from 1947to 1957 as part of the Prairie View Bowl series…
First Upstate HBCU Football Game
Althea Gibson, the “Queen of Wimbledon”
They Met at the Net
The modern day version of tennis dates back to the 16th century when rackets came into use, and the game began to be called “tennis.”
It became popular in the U.S. in 1874 and in the recorded history of the game, little or nothing was mentioned about the inclusion of African Americans.
In 1881, when tennis was beginning to be played competitively, it led to the establishment of tennis clubs. In the 1930s, tennis was considered an “elite” sports played in the serene settings of these white established settings, even though black players began to emerge in middle class communities.
By 1916, more than a dozen black tennis clubs created the American Tennis Association (ATA) which had more than 25,000 members in 150 clubs ranging from the upper crust of African-American society which included colleges like Tuskegee Institute, Xavier of Louisiana, Central State, Hampton, Wilberforce and Morehouse Colleges. Read more
Al Attles Joins Naismith Hall of Fame
A North Carolina A&T standout point guard, Al Attles had a 11-year NBA career. He averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 711 regular-season games and currently ranks fifth on the Warriors all-time games played list (711). Attles spent his entire 23-year NBA career with the Philadelphia and Golden State Warriors . He coached the Golden State Warriors 1974-75 championship and still holds the record as the winningest coach in Warriors history. See Black College Naismith members
