Chicago Prairie Tennis Club     contact Ronald Mitchell phone (773) 221-8799 e-mail nanmitch91@aol.com website N/A

MISSION

To promote the sport of tennis and to facilitate the means by which it may be played; to put forth all necessary efforts to develop the sport among junior players; and to sponsor tennis scholarships for juniors wishing to further their education and tennis ability.

HISTORY

The Chicago Prairie Tennis Club (CPTC) was founded in 1912 by a small group of African Americans who believed “athletic competition and good sportsmanship are prerequisites for building good personalities and character.” Co-founders were Mrs. Maude Lawrence, Madelyn Baptist McCall, Ruth Shockey, and Mrs. C. O. (Mother) Seames, who had been active in black tennis circles since 1906. Initially, CPTC members played on dirt and clay courts at 37th and Prairie Avenue, hence the name “Prairie” in the CPTC logo. Moving to the Armory tennis courts at 35th and Giles Avenue, CPTC remained there until Mother Seames and her husband in 1920 built four tennis courts at 32nd and Vernon Avenue, the first private grounds for a Black tennis club in the United States. Four years earlier, CPTC had launched a series of annual tournaments

By 1933, CPTC had moved from the Mother Seames courts to 60th and Wabash Avenue, where it leased grounds from the Celotex Corporation for $275 a year and staged its Chicago World’s Fair Championships in 1934. In 1946, CPTC hosted and won the first Tri-City Tournament with players from Cleveland (Forest City Tennis Club) and Detroit (Motor City Tennis Club), receiving the Seames Trophy, named in memory of Mother Seames and rotated each year to the winning Tri-City team. This event has survived over fifty years, with participants from these three cities looking forward annually to renewing friendships, playing competitive matches and maintaining a camaraderie that has been passed on to our youth.

The CPTC of the past nine decades takes pride in helping develop the first black U.S. National Champion. Not Althea Gibson or Arthur Ashe, but a pigtailed youngster, Lorraine Williams (now Bryant), who won the U.S. Lawn Tennis National Girl’s 15 title in 1953. Many years later, CPTC members felt that more could be done to develop junior players and in 1975, CPTC’s Junior Development Program took form. We are so very proud of our rich and full 90 plus years of history and celebrate with our membership today the distinction of surviving as the nation’s oldest historically African-American tennis club

Club Officers 2005-2006
President	Ronald Mitchell
Vice President	Donald Cole
Treasurer	Charles Collins
Recording Secretary	Sheree Tilford
Corresponding Secretary	Charisse Chaney
Sgt. at Arms	Porter Myrick Jr.
Committee Chairpersons	Junior Development - Ron Mitchell
Tournaments	Marty Bufford - Director Clarence Walker Jr.- Memorial Junior Tennis Tournament Cynthia Poellnitz - Director Chris Scott - Memorial Adult Tennis Tournament
Membership	Nancy Mitchell
Budget and Financing	Charles Collins
Public Relations	Charisse Chaney
Social	Tennye Clark
Fundraising	Donald Cole
Scholarship	Teresa Handley
Audit	Ruth Leake
Nominating	Barbara Searles
Club Address and Phone
Phone: (312) 225-3373
Chicago Prairie Tennis Club 1634 East 53rd Street - #180 Chicago, IL 60615
Fall/Winter Activites Activities are held at Evergreen Racquet & Fitness 2700 West 91st Street Evergreen Park, IL 708-425-7200 Spring/Summer activities are held at the Lake Meadows Tennis Center 3211 S. Ellis, Chicago, IL 60616
Spring 2006 Junior Development	Junior Development - Saturdays: Noon to 2 p.m.
Junior Excellence	Mondays & Wednesdays: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Tournaments Tournaments are USTA Sanctioned and are held at: Lake Meadows Tennis Center 3211 S. Ellis Chicago, IL 60616 213-225-3373
Clarence Walker Jr. Memorial Junior Tennis Tournament	May 27 - May 29th 2006
Chris Scott Memorial Open Adult Tennis Tournament	June 9 - June 11 2006