Eoline Thornton Observed in Action by an attentive Gallery (photo courtesy of Diana Eoline Thornton)
Genesis
My interest in Eoline Thornton began in the mid-1990s when I was conducting research for my book, Forbidden Fairways. As I worked on the book, I did not have the time or the financial resources to gather more information about her. But what I had uncovered doing the research inspired me to write, “It should be learned who introduced the long-hitting, left-hander to former world heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis, and made him aware of her golfing potential.”(1) Now, some twenty years later, I can provide a partial answer.
In mid- August 2015, I received a telephone call from Louis Lord in Douglasville, Georgia. He had recently read Forbidden Fairways, and was calling to express appreciation for what I had written. During the course of our extended conversation, Lord mentioned casually that during his student days at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he met a young woman attending Clark College in the same city whose grandmother played golf. Upon hearing the excitement in my voice when he told me that Eoline Thornton was the grandmother, Lord put me in touch with the Thornton family in Los Angeles.
At the outset, I did not have any intention to write about “the long-hitting, left-hander,” but when her daughter, Diana, began to fill me in about her mother’s fascinating life history, I felt obliged to tell it to a wider audience.
Introduction
“They did what humans have done for centuries when life became untenable…” “They did what human beings looking for freedom, throughout history have often done. They left.” (2) With this penetrating observation, published in 2010, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Isabel Wilkerson, introduces readers to her highly acclaimed study of African American migration from the South to other parts of the country during much of the twentieth century. In 1916, small-time barber, Alexander Jackson was one of that intrepid band of African Americans who decided that it was time to leave. With his schoolteacher wife, Janie, and their four daughters, Irene, Velma, Mabel, and Janie, the family boarded the Jim Crow railroad car in Mobile, Alabama and embarked on the challenging cross-country journey to the West Coast.(3)
But as many other African American migrants soon discovered, cities on the West Coast were not the hospitable havens they anticipated. Not only did they encounter white racism, they had to compete with other ethnic groups, primarily Asian, for employment, housing, and social services.(4) Faced with imminent financial impoverishment, after their arrival in Los Angeles, the older Jackson daughters were compelled to obtain low-paying domestic employment as soon as possible. Also seeking to boost family income, Alexander Jackson used much of the family’s paltry savings to open a small barbershop. Into this precarious financial situation, on October 31, 1917, a fifth daughter, Eoline Corita, was born.
During infancy and early childhood, Eoline’s stay-at-home mother, Janie, not only provided maternal nurturing but also used her school teaching skills for pre-kindergarten instruction. When Eoline entered elementary school, she was well prepared to absorb the new learning experience. Unfortunately, inadequate income continued to plague the Jackson family. On at least two occasions they were evicted from their shabby homes for failure to pay the monthly rent. And Eoline never forgot the walk to elementary school wearing shoes stuffed with cardboard to patch worn out soles. Nevertheless, by the time the last Jackson daughter reached Manual Arts High School, she was a better than average student as well as someone with a wide range of extracurricular interests. Her high school yearbook revealed, among other things, that Eoline was a member of clubs that improved her secretarial skills and broadened her world outlook. These would prove to be valuable attributes later in life.(5)
Though not a member of any of the high school sports teams, Eoline enjoyed playing paddleball and shooting free throws on the basketball court. Sometime during her high school years she began playing tennis and by the time she graduated in 1933 she was well-versed with a tennis racquet. Benefitting from instructions from Tennis Hall of Famer, Pancho Gonzalez, in the years preceding World War II, Eoline and her tennis playing sister-in-law, Eleese, dominated the local tennis scene.(6)
On August 2, 1937 in a ceremony with a large wedding party consisting of Maid-of-Honor, Best Man, seven bridesmaids, seven ushers, and flower girl, the almost twenty year old Eoline Corita Jackson became the wife of postal employee, James Cassius Thornton. On May 18, 1939, their first child, James Thornton Jr. was born and five years later, on May 22,1944, their second child, Diana Eoline Thornton was born.
Embracing A New Sport
The date Eoline Thornton first handled a golf club and the circumstances leading up to it are not known. Available information suggests the events occurred within months after the end of the Second World War. From all indications, the effects of the encounter were overwhelming and instantaneous; it was proverbially “love at first sight.” Her attachment to tennis disappeared within weeks as she immersed herself in the new sport. Whenever possible she spent time launching drives at a local driving range or swinging her irons at a nearby vacant lot trying to improve her short game. By combining her athleticism with determination, Eoline Thornton progressed rapidly and became less self-conscious about being ridiculed by better golfers. Now brimming with confidence, she ventured onto the Western Avenue Golf Course.
In those days, the eighteen-hole layout in West Los Angeles was one of the few golf courses in the city where African Americans were allowed to play.(7) As such, it attracted many of the top-notch African American golfers. It was not unusual to find Bill Spiller, Teddy Rhodes, or Charlie Sifford playing the course when they were in town. It also lured such celebrities as vocalist, Billy Eckstine, baseball hero, Jackie Robinson, and entertainer, Sammy Davis, Jr. When on the West Coast, heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis and his confidant, showman Leonard Reed, spent time on the par 70 course. During her early golf years, as she honed her golfing skills, Eoline was a Western Avenue regular who caught Reed’s attention. Like Thornton, in his younger days Reed was a better-than-average tennis player before becoming enthralled with golf.(8)
Favorably impressed by what he saw in Eoline’s game, Reed persuaded Joe Louis to provide her with financial support for travel, equipment and professional instruction. In a 1950 issue of the Chicago Defender newspaper, golf columnist, Russ Cowans quoted Reed as saying, “She [Thornton] is without doubt the best looking prospect to come across the golf horizon in the past five or six years.” (9)
In those early years, few women played the Western Avenue course regularly. Searching for more female golfing companionship, in either 1948 or 1949, Eoline joined Vernondale Golf Club. Founded in 1947 by ten women to promote the game for women of color, its name was changed in 1950 to Vernoncrest Golf Club. It was the first such organization on the West Coast and by the time the new name was adopted, there were more than fifty members. No information was uncovered to indicate that Eoline ever held office in the organization or was active in its non-golfing affairs. She did not join the group to further her social standing but it was a subtle way for her to show solidarity with those striving for gender equality in the sport.
Because Western Avenue Golf Course was also a Mecca for itinerant golf “hustlers” eager to get “a piece of the action”, Reed, ever the promoter, saw those individuals as potential investment opportunities. Sometimes in collusion with his boss, Reed would entice an unsuspecting dupe (often a loud mouth braggart) into wagering against Eoline. Invariably, to the dismay of his adversary, Reed would pocket the winnings.
Gradually, the word got around in African American golf circles that Eoline Thornton was a golfer of distinction; a woman with superior golfing ability. Compiling a complete record of her achievements posed a challenge beyond the author’s resources. Although fragmentary, her record in the events listed below, provide a digest of her accomplishments on the links:
- 1950 – Runner-up to Ann Gregory in the United Golfers Association (UGA) National Open Women’s Championship
- 1951 – Won UGA National Open Women’s Championship defeating Myrtice McIver
1952 – Won Detroit Women’s Amateur Championship and Fairway Women’s Amateur Championship in Ohio - 1953 – Won Desert Mashie Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona That year, Russ Cowans wrote in the Chicago Defender that Eoline was one of “…the four gals who ruled the herd since1949.”(10)
- 1954 – Defeated Lorraine Sawyer to win a tournament in Dallas, Texas.
Eoline also won a number of lesser known events. One of special significance was the annual Pasadena women’s championship. where she probably was the sole African American entrant. In an undated, unnamed newspaper clipping, it was reported that Eoline represented Vernondale (not Vernoncrest) Golf Club indicating that the event took place either in or prior to the club’s name change in1950. The tournament is also of interest because Eoline won the event by defeating Mrs. Johnny Weissmueller, wife of a popular movie star and former Olympic swimming champion.(11)
During the years when Eoline played her best golf, she and Ann Gregory were headliners on the African American women’s golf circuit.
Though rivals, they were friends and respected each other. An indication of their mutual esteem was apparent in an incident that occurred at the 1956 UGA National Open Women’s Tournament. After a questionable decision by the UGA Rules Committee, Thornton, Gregory, and a third player contested a ruling and demanded refunds of their tournament entrance fees. (12) The decision was not reversed and it is not known if their demands were met. What seems apparent, however, is that these were women serious about the integrity of the game. The 1956 brouhaha was an unusual, but not unexpected, manifestation of Eoline’s commitment to fairness.
Life Outside The Ropes
If her life on the links was noteworthy, Eoline Thornton’s life off the course was equally exceptional. Fiercely independent, with a streak of stubbornness and steadfast in her beliefs, from early childhood the sturdy left-hander resisted attempts to convert her to right handedness. Her choice of extracurricular activities in high school reveals a level of maturity unusual for someone her age. One of those activities involved her membership in an organization known as The World Friendship Club where she established contacts with students from other countries. At this early age, it was evident that Eoline had a curiosity about other lands and other people. The Secretarial Club and The Commercial Club were other extracurricular high school activities in which she participated.(13) These organizations, coupled with formal classroom education, helped not only to enhance her skills in typing and shorthand but also they enabled her to learn more about the world of business and finance. Still an adolescent, Eoline Thornton was preparing a solid foundation for later life.
The early years of poverty left an indelible mark on Eoline’s consciousness. The evictions were particularly gut-wrenching experiences for her and during those formative years she vowed to do everything that was legal to prevent being expelled from her place of residence later in life. Toward that end she spent much of her adult life acquiring real estate in metropolitan Los Angeles. While still a tennis devotee in the early 1940s, she used personal savings to purchase two lots in the western part of the city and built a
While still a tennis devotee in the early 1940s, she used personal savings to purchase two lots in the western part of the city and built a single family dwelling on the property. Although there was a restrictive covenant on the deed that barred African American ownership, Eoline managed to get around it. At other times Eoline owned property in a section of the city that is now an historic preservation area as well as another building in Hollywood. But her most cherished acquisition was in Freeport, a city in the Grand Bahamas, where she owned a house and a condominium. Reluctantly, as time passed, she sold most of her holdings but retained ownership of the Bahamas property until infirmities prevented her from visiting the island.
Travel was another aspect of Eoline Thornton’s multidimensional personality. Her imagination was stirred by what she remembered from the high school extracurricular club and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she embarked on a lifelong program to see the world. She traveled alone always accompanied by her golf clubs. On her first trip abroad in 1948 she traveled to England on the newly refurbished Queen Mary. In the ensuing years, she made a number of additional European trips and her wanderlust took her to the far reaches of the earth. She went to Fiji, Yugoslavia, Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), Vietnam, Japan, and New Zealand. Because she did not possess a valid visa, she was barred from entering South Africa. She visited her son who was attending the University of Hawaii, went to Hong Kong, and lived on a house boat in the People’s Republic of China. Using her house in Freeport as a base, she made excursions to many of the islands in the Caribbean. On one of her European trips, she ran out of money in Paris. Ever resourceful, she went to the U.S. Embassy in the city seeking financial assistance. A loan was arranged which she repaid by working without salary at the Embassy for a month as a temporary typist. Although she played in a tournament in Mexico, she never went to South America and she often regretted not going to Russia or any eastern European country.
How was she able to pay for her travel? The answer lies in a combination of a frugal life style and determined work ethic. With her excellent secretarial skills she seldom was without gainful employment . And she was willing to accept positions in a variety of less than usual occupations. For instance, after her stint at a Santa Monica bingo parlor, she worked in the Los Angeles public school system. After a number of years in that position which permitted her to travel and play golf during the long summer vacations, she was hired by the California Horse Racing Board to serve as a parimutuel betting clerk. On this also seasonal job, she worked in rotation at race tracks in Hollywood Park, Delmar, and Santa Anita. She accepted, perhaps, her most unconventional work assignment in the early 1970s when she signed a two-year contract to drive a truck on the construction routes of the trans-Alaska pipeline. Once again she was accompanied by her golf clubs and although she worked ten to
She accepted, perhaps, her most unconventional work assignment in the early 1970s when she signed a two-year contract to drive a truck on the construction routes of the trans-Alaska pipeline. Once again she was accompanied by her golf clubs and although she worked ten to twelve-hour shifts driving a large vehicle over the northern tundra, she found a way to play an occasional round. At the end of the contract, Eoline had amassed sizeable earnings but, unfortunately, she lost much of it in ill-advised investments.
Prior to the enactment of legislation in 1964 that banned racial discrimination in public facilities, hotels in Los Angeles excluded people of color. In 1956, therefore, when Althea Gibson was invited to play in the 30th Annual Southwest Pacific Tennis Tournament, she was compelled to find accommodations in one of the homes of African Americans that was part of an informal network established to meet the needs of black travelers.(14)
The home of the Thornton family on 37th Place in Central Los Angeles was a part of that network and Gibson spent her pre- and post- tournament hours with them. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Now a devoted golfer, Eoline tried to introduce her houseguest to the sport. Althea showed no interest at the time, but four years later she retired from tennis and started playing golf.
In a 1963 interview by a newspaper in the state where she was born, Althea stated, “Eoline was the women’s Negro golf champion and I think she could have been tennis champion if she wanted to be. She loved golf and she was always after me to take it up. Once I did, I loved it.”(15) The Thornton family was very proud of Althea Gibson when she became the first African American to become a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and play on its Tour.
In the mid to late 1960s, Eoline Thornton’s golfing edge began to lose its luster. She withdrew from playing the major tournaments and confined her activities to “social golf” and minor local events. As mentioned earlier, she took her clubs with her whenever she traveled abroad and never missed an opportunity to play foreign golf courses. With advancing age, however, she traveled less frequently and gradually began playing nine rather than eighteen holes on any given day.
Out of a sense of pride, she stopped playing altogether in her early eighties to avoid embarrassment on the course. After a series of falls during the mid to late 1990s, she lost her mobility and moved in with her granddaughter. On June 13, 2013, Eoline Corita Thornton died peacefully. Fulfilling a request, she was cremated and her ashes scattered in the ocean surrounding Freeport, Grand Bahamas.
Afterword
Though not a prude, Eoline Thornton lived by a moral code that some might consider old-fashioned and overly restrictive. She did not smoke, drink alcohol, or gamble; yet was not devoutly religious. Although her extensive travel abroad caused family tensions she continued her trips despite the opposition. Her employment history indicates that she took jobs considered traditionally male. On matters regarding racial equality, however, her beliefs and opinions were more problematic. She was not at the forefront regarding demands for racial justice either in golf or in the greater society and she maintained a studied silence on this important social issue. Yes, Eoline was a private, complex person and her desire to remain in the shadows on controversial issues confounds our understanding of her attitudes toward them. As it is impossible to obtain her responses, Eoline Thornton is an enigma. Until and unless other ways are found to ascertain what she felt, this study might be regarded as a work in progress.
NOTES
1. Calvin H. Sinnette, Forbidden Fairways: African Americans and the Game of Golf (Chelsea, Michigan: Sleeping Bear Press,1998), p.120. Reissue (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 2015).
2. Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns (New York: Random House, 2010), p. 15.
3. Farai Chideya, “Viewing Los Angeles Through Creole Lens.” New York Times January 24, 2016, p. 8.
4. Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns, p. 419.
5. Manual Arts High School, 1933 Yearbook (Los Angeles), p. 38.
6. Cora Jackson-Fossett, “Tennis And Golf Pioneer Eoline Thornton Passes At 95.” Los Angeles Sentinel, June 27, 2013, the source was unable to be located.
7. Daniel Wexler, “History In The Making,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2009, unable to locate the source.
8. Chicago Defender, July 30, 1938, p.18. A photograph captioned “Nosed Out”, shows Reed, resplendent in baggy, plus four trousers holding a tennis racquet.
9. “Down The Fairway by Tee Shot,” Chicago Defender, July 22, 1950, p.18. “Tee Shot” was the pen name for golf columnist, Russ Cowans and his byline was “Down The Fairway.”
10. “Comparing Scores,”Chicago Defender, August 29, 1953, p.23.
11. “Negro Girl Ousts Tee Queen, 3-1,” Headline of a column appearing in an unnamed, undated newspaper.
12. “Down The Fairway by Tee Shot,” Chicago Defender, October 6,1956, p. 17.
13. Manual Arts High School, 1933 Yearbook, p.38.
14. “Althea Wins Pacific Net Title,” Chicago Defender, October 6, 1956, p. 17. Notes 12 and 14 appeared in the same issue of the newspaper.
15. Spartanburg (SC) Herald Journal, “Althea Gibson To Play Pro Golf Circuit,” December 13, 1963, p. 14.
ADDITIONAL READING
1. M. Mikell Johnson, The African American Woman Golfer: Her Legacy
(Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2008).
2. Marcia Chambers, The Unplayable Lie: The Untold Story of Women
and Discrimination in American Golf (Trumbull, Connecticut: New York
Times Special Services, Inc., 1995).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without exaggeration, it would have been impossible to reconstruct the life and times of Eoline Corita Thornton without the cooperation and goodwill of many individuals. First and foremost was the extraordinary degree of assistance provided by Diana Thornton, Eoline’s daughter. She responded to my many queries with frankness and good humor. Particularly helpful was her willingness to retrieve and share family files. All biographers should be so fortunate. I am also indebted to Louis Lord whose random telephone call reopened my interest about someone I had first come across during research many years earlier. To Myra Porter-Robertson, I express thanks for the hours spent combing the records at Manual Arts High School.
Journalist Cora Jackson-Fossett not only helped me locate the whereabouts of Diana Thornton, but her excellent obituary of Eoline in the Los Angeles Sentinel was instrumental in enabling me to establish a framework for subsequent research. Rick Crowder, General Manager of El Dorado Park Golf Course responded promptly to a request for information pertaining to Eoline’s organizational affiliations. Joellen ElBashir, Manuscript Curator at Howard University’s Moorland Spingarn Research Center used her archival skills to locate a valuable reference source.
Finally, I would be inexcusably remiss if I failed to mention the invaluable assistance rendered by Elinor Sinnette, my in-house editor and soul mate of nearly sixty-seven years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An avid golfer for more than a half-century with a long-standing interest in African American golf history, Calvin H. Sinnette, M.D. is Emeritus Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Howard University College of Medicine. His book Forbidden Fairways: African Americans And Golf was published by Sleeping Bear Press in 1998 and reissued by Black Classic Press in 2015. Dr. Sinnette was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
