Former Tulane Tennis Great, Rhodes Scholar Ham Richardson Passes Away
Nov 7, 2006 | General
Nov. 7, 2006
New Orleans - Former Tulane University standout Hamilton F. "Ham" Richardson, a tennis star who overcame juvenile diabetes to be twice ranked number one in the United States, died Sunday night at New York Presbyterian Hospital at the age of 73 in New York, N.Y. The cause was complications from type 1 diabetes, which he had suffered from for almost 60 years.
During his days as a member of the Tulane tennis team from 1952-55, Ham Richardson played for legendary Green Wave tennis coach Emmett Pare from the time he won the National Boys Championships at age 15. Under Pare's tutelage, he won a pair of NCAA singles titles and four SEC singles and doubles titles while maintaining a 3.92 grade point average. In 1954 while at Tulane, Richardson was honored as one of America's Ten Most Outstanding Young Men and he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1955 to study at Oxford University.
In March of 2004, Tulane honored Richardson with the announcement of the endowment of the men's tennis program's scholarships in his name.
"We're saddened by the passing of this wonderful man who meant so much too so many," Tulane Director of Athletics Rick Dickson said. One of my most rewarding Tulane experiences was the pleasure of Ham and Midge's friendship over the last four years and his love for family, friends and his opportunities for young people was infectious and always expressed with such class and dignity. The establishment of the Ham Richardson Endowment for Tulane Tennis insures that his passion will live on for future Green Wave stars."
One of America's top players in 1956 and 1958, Richardson was the holder of 17 national titles, including the 1958 U.S. National (now the U.S. Open) doubles championship, which he won with Alex Olmedo. A student-athlete during tennis' amateur era, he was a Rhodes Scholar studying full time at Oxford University the first year he achieved the number one ranking.
Though tennis was never his profession, he was ranked among America's top 10 players for 11 years, and was a member of seven U.S. Davis Cup teams, including the 1954 and 1958 Davis Cup championship squads, earning a record of 20-2 (17-1 in singles, 3-1 in doubles). Richardson's .944 winning percentage remains the second-best singles winning percentage, among players with at least 12 matches played in United States Davis Cup history and his 17 singles victories ties him with Barry MacKay for eighth place on the list of most American Davis Cup singles victories behind such notable names as John McEnroe (41), Andre Agassi (30), Arthur Ashe (27), Bill Tilden (25), Vic Seixas (24), Don Budge (19) and Wilmer Allison (18). Richardson also posted a 2-0 record as a Davis Cup captain.
A member of seven United States Davis Cup teams, Richardson twice served as the Davis Cup Captain and compiled a record of 20-2 while representing the U.S. His victories included a win in the decisive doubles match in the U.S. victory over Australia in the Davis Cup finals in 1958. The top-ranked American tennis player in 1956 and 1958, he also won the U.S. Doubles Championship in 1958.
After working for several years as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Russell Long of Louisiana, he went on to a successful career in the brokerage and investment banking business. His many honors include induction into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Collegiate Hall of Fame, the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame and the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame.
Richardson, who lived in New York City for the last 35 years working in the investment business, was born and raised in Baton Rouge, La. He was an unfailingly polite and elegant Southerner with a reputation as one of the sport's great gentlemen. He was also one of the first world class athletes to compete successfully despite having diabetes.
Already one of the best American juniors when he was diagnosed with the disease in 1949 at age 15, he refused to comply with doctors who told him his condition meant that he would have to give up virtually all physical activity, including the sport he loved. Still, his condition presented ongoing challenges. He managed to win the 1950 French junior championships (now known as the French Open junior championships) at age 17 despite having to spend every night at the American Hospital in Paris while doctors tried to stabilize his fluctuating blood sugar levels. He allowed researchers at Tulane Medical School to draw his blood during collegiate matches to study the effects of exercise on a diabetic.
And a low blood sugar caused him to pass out on the pavement in front of the Newport Casino (now the site of the International Tennis Hall of Fame) en route to a party the evening before he was to play in the finals of the tournament there in 1951. He nonetheless managed to score a five-set victory over fellow American Strait Clark the next day to win the title.
Mr. Richardson reached the semifinals of Forest Hills twice and the semifinals of Wimbledon and the French Championships once each. He defeated four Wimbledon champions -- Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Ashley Cooper and Neale Fraser in four days to win the 1956 Eastern Grass Court Championships at the Orange Lawn Tennis Club in New Jersey.
He regularly played mixed doubles with Althea Gibson, the first African American woman to win tennis's major championships, and together they never lost a match. Richardson traveled with Gibson on a U.S. State Department-sponsored Goodwill Tour of Southeast Asia in 1959. In later years he enjoyed explaining that playing tennis was a Richardson family tradition begun by his father's stepfather, Trudeau Thompson, a mechanical engineer who worked on the construction of the Mississippi River levee and drew the outlines of a tennis court on the dirt wherever he was working so he could play during his off hours.
Richardson was the principal of the Richardson and Associates, an investment and venture capital firm. He also had a lifelong involvement in Democratic politics that began when he served as legislative assistant to then U.S. Senator Russell Long of Louisiana, whom he worked for the second year he was ranked number one in the U.S. He twice served as campaign treasurer for former New York Congressman Allard Lowenstein, and was New York State Chairman of Richard Gephardt's 1988 presidential campaign. He also developed a close friendship and solicited campaign contributions for former Mayor David Dinkins, a friendship based on both men's love for Democratic politics and tennis.
He is survived by his wife of 32 years, the former Agnes (Midge) Turk, who was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Seventeen for 18 years. He is also survived by three children from a previous marriage, Kevin, Kenneth and Kathryn and five grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 15 at 3:30 p.m. at St. James Church, 865 Madison (at East 71st Street) in New York City. The Richardson family asks in lieu of flowers, contributions are made to the The Ham Richardson Endowment for Tennis at Tulane University (Tulane Atheltics; James W. Wilson Center Jr., New Orleans, LA 70118) or to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, NY Chapter.
