Hiawatha golf clubhouse could soon be named after civil rights pioneer

In the early 1940s, African American golfers were allowed to play most public courses in the Twin Cities, but often at odd hours of the day, and they weren’t allowed inside the clubhouse.

Hiawatha Golf Course was no exception to that rule, but Solomon Hughes Sr. loved playing at Hiawatha and had recently won a national title on the United Golfers Association tour, which was a pro circuit for African Americans who were barred from playing the all-white Professional Golfers’ Association tour.

According to two of Hughes’s children, Shirley Hughes and Solomon Hughes, Jr., their father pressed Hiawatha Golf Course to open its doors to African American golfers. In 1948, the course changed its policy and permitted Black golfers to enter and use all of the facilities in the clubhouse.

“I absolutely remember hearing about the fact they could not come into the clubhouse,” Shirley Hughes said. “I recall, vividly, him telling me that story about how they could not come into the clubhouse at all, and finally I think he was just sick of it.”

From there, after winning often on the all-Black UGA Tour, Solomon Hughes Sr. turned his sights toward breaking down racial barriers on the all-white PGA Tour. He petitioned to play in the PGA’s St. Paul Open but was denied for three years. Then, in 1952, the St. Paul Open decided to offer Hughes and Ted Rhodes invitations, making them the first African American golfers to play in a PGA-sponsored event in Minnesota.

“I think of him as a civil rights pioneer because of the things he went through and the things he accomplished,” said Solomon Hughes, Jr. “But, we as a family never heard him complain and he never was bitter about any of the things he endured.”

Eventually, Solomon Hughes Sr. became the club pro at Hiawatha Golf Course and continued to teach the game to many young golfers.

He died in 1987 at the age of 78.

Next Wednesday, July 21, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is expected to approve naming the Hiawatha clubhouse after Solomon Hughes Sr. to honor his legacy.