Philly Tennis Great Denied Historical Marker At Germantown Cricket Club
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of Philadelphia's greatest athletes, Bill Tilden, who dominated any tennis court he set foot on in the 1920's, will not get a plaque on his home court at Germantown Cricket Club.
Honoring Bill Tilden with a historical marker should be an ace, according to supporters. The tennis great won Wimbledon three times, the first American to win in 1920, along with seven American Championships, as the U.S. Open was then known.
"He basically was the Babe Ruth of tennis," said Philadelphia author Allen Hornblum, who has written a 500-page book about Tilden, titled 'American Colossus,' which is scheduled to be released early next year.
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Back in the day, Tilden's tennis exploits appeared on front pages in magazines, newspapers and in newsreels.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission voted against installing a marker there, because of events near the end of Tilden's life. It says while the significance of Tilden's "tennis career and talent are indisputable, his convictions for sexual misconduct with underage boys" in the 1940's "preclude recognition with a PHMC marker."
Hornblum presumes Tilden was gay.
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"If he was gay, he was very deep in the closet," he said. "But he had many friends. He hung out with Hollywood royalty."
He believes the Commission was influenced by the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse scandal at Penn State University.
Hornblum calls Tilden "the most forgotten great athlete in American history."
