Greensboro Six honored in ceremony 70 years after they fought segregation by playing the game they loved
By Joshua Davis
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GREENSBORO, North Carolina (WXII) — Community members in the gate city are celebrating the lives and legacies of six men who fought to desegregate the game they loved, as Sunday marks 70 years since the Greensboro Six made history. In the words of one of their sons, they refused to wait for change, so they played for it.
In Greensboro, golfers of different generations hit six “drives to freedom” in honor of Dr. George Simkins Jr., Phillip Cook, Elijah Herring, Samuel Murray, Joseph Sturdivant, and Leon Wolfe.
Those six men who broke the rules of the then segregated Gillespie Golf Course and changed the game of golf in Greensboro and beyond.
“Dec. 7, 70 years ago, they came out here, signed their names on the course registry, each put down their 75 cents in green fees and walked out to this tee and teed off,” said Chris Simkins. “They wanted the opportunity for everyone to be able to play on this course without fear or exclusion.”
Simkins, the son of Dr. George Simkins, told WXII he was 12 when his father told him the story.
“The clubhouse manager was standing right beside them, screaming at them, saying, ‘You cannot play here. You’re trespassing. Why are you here?'” he said. “I couldn’t make sense of it, because I didn’t know what it was like to live under segregation.”
He said their actions got them arrested, and their court case against the city went all the way to the Supreme Court. However, each hardship — from the threats they faced to even the golf clubhouse burning down — laid the foundation for people of all races and creeds to learn and enjoy the game of golf at Gillespie.
“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they are determined to do it and can make a difference,” Simkins said. “What they did here changed the course of history, not just here in Greensboro, but across America.”
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