AMERICAN BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

ABA or the American Bridge Association
Internet Address: http://www.ababridge.org/

It was a different time and a different era in the history of the United States. This national organization was founded in 1932 to encourage duplicate bridge among African-American players. The ABA holds two annual National tournaments, a Spring National since 1968, and a Summer National since 1934. There are open, mixed, men’s and women’s pairs, an individual and team championships for open, mixed, men’s and women’s teams. The top event is the knockout teams.

In the early days of contract bridge, African-Americans were excluded from most major tournaments. In 1932, a group of African-American tennis players at Buckroe Beach, Virginia, decided to foster and promote duplicate bridge among African-Americans. They established a national organization and made contact with other similar groups around the country. The final result was the founding of the American Bridge Association by Dr. M.E. DuBissette, who was president from 1932 to 1935.

Additional Presidents were:

 

In 1936, the ABA merged with the Eastern Bridge League, a group of New York City clubs headed by Morgan S. Jensen. Under the leadership of Dr. E.T. Belsaw, the president of the ABA from 1936 to 1949, the ABA continued to grow with new members. A masterpoint system was established for rating players, and the quarterly ABA Bulletin, the publication for the ABA, edited by W.R. Tatem from 1944 to 1953, was published. Succeeding editors were Clarence Farmer from 1953 to 1970, Bobbye Caldwell from 1970 to 1976, Wilma Snell from 1977 to 1978, and Dr. William Furr who accepted the responsibility in 1982.

As time went by, it became clear to the organizing bodies governing the game of bridge that the situation at that time was rather absurd, and official recognition of the African-American participation in tournaments came about in 1952. In this year Robert Gill proposed an amendment by which each unit became the sole judge of membership qualifications in its territory. This amendment was voted on and passed.

However, federal legislation decreed that African-Americans not be permitted to stay in certain hotels, but the ACBL in 1964 stipulated that every ACBL member held the right to participate in any national tournament, no matter where it was held. The last obstacle to ACBL membership for African-Americans was removed in 1967 when the ACBL included in its by-laws that no person shall be denied membership because of race, color, or creed.

Under the presidency of Victor R. Daly, from 1949 to 1964, negotiations leading to the establishment of mutual respect between the ACBL and the ABA were successful. The result of these negotiations was that many ABA members also became ACBL members. Among these many players, Marion Wildy in 1956 became the first African-American Life Master, and the first ABA Life Master to attain also ACBL Life Master was Leo Benson in 1962.

The ABA is divided presently into eight Sections: The Eastern Section, The Southern Section, The Midwest Section, The Great Lakes Section, The Western Section, The Southwestern Section, The Northwestern Section, and the Mid-Atlantic Section.

Please check out their Website at the URL posted at the top of this web page to discover more about the American Bridge Association. When you drop by, please leave a message in their Guest Book, and let them know that you stopped to visit. The reader will also find a list of the National Officers and Executive Committee members with current email addresses below.

 

 

2002 ABA Directory

National Officers and Executive Committee

 

President/Bd. Chairman		Richard H Bowling		1806 Sharpe Rd		Greensboro, NC 27406		(336)272-1246
Vice President		Clarice  Reid		9715 Fernwood Road		Bethesda, MD 20817		(301) 530-8851
Executive Secretary		Will E. Richardson		1600 Franklin Rd, C 2		Tuskegee Inst., Al 36088		(404) 734-4036
Treasurer		George Saunders		P.O. Box 40582		Memphis, TN 38174		(901)774-0054