Reginald Weir
*Reginald Weir was born on this date in 1911. was a Black tennis player and physician.
Reginald Storum Weir was born in Washington, D.C. Weir was a medical school graduate of New York University and practiced family medicine from 1935 to 1985. Weir was captain of the City College of New York, men's tennis team. After graduating from CCNY in 1931, he was the American Tennis Association (ATA) national champion in 1931, 1932, 1933, 1937, and 1942.
With the support of the NAACP, Weir and a partner originally attempted to play at the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA)-sponsored indoor tournament in 1929. Still, they were turned away when organizers realized he was black. Later, in 1948, he successfully gained entrance to the USLTA's National Indoor Tournament in New York, becoming the first Black man to play at a USLTA event. He won his first-round game on March 11, 1948, but did not advance further.
His entrance to the tournament resulted from several years of lobbying by the ATA. It paved the way for Althea Gibson to be accepted and advance to the quarterfinals the following year. Reginald Weir, of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, died there on August 22, 1987.
