Oak Ridge Wayside: The Tennis Courts

The Oak Ridge Tennis Courts wayside.

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Quick Facts

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto

Subtitle
A Place for Sport and Socialization

Main Text 
Outdoor recreation was essential for Oak Ridge residents’ morale during the Manhattan Project. Tennis courts, baseball diamonds and a pool were built. Tennis courts, however, were used for more than just tennis. Being one of the few places in town that was paved, tennis courts were ideal for dancing on warm summer nights when recreation halls were too hot. The Tennessee Eastman Girls Club requested that William “Bill” Pollock, a Tennessee Eastman engineer, hold a dance at the tennis courts. Bill had previously wired the cafeteria, recreation halls and other buildings throughout town for music in his free time. The first tennis court dance was July 22, 1944, at 8:30 pm. They became a weekly event.Bill would organize mixer dances, where men would hold hands, forming a circle, and women would hold hands forming a circle inside the men. The circles would go in opposite directions and when the music stopped, whoever you were paired up with was who you danced with next. The song “Sleepy Time Gal” marked the end of the dance for the night. When news of the Japanese surrender was released on August 15, 1945, people gathered on the tennis courts and danced in celebration. 

Photo text & Quote: Image -- Oak Ridge residents folk dancing on a tennis court. 1948 

“Then we danced and had a good time. Then many dates later I realized that – and I wrote to my mother that I believe he’s the one that I would like to marry someday. So it’s just – it was just like that. I met him at the tennis court dances and many of my friends met their husbands at the tennis court dances.” ---Mary Anne King 

Exhibit Panel Description 
A black and white exhibit panel on a black frame approximately four feet tall. The panel has a black band at the top and a title underneath that reads “The Tennis Courts: A Place for Sport and Socialization”. The center right of the panel includes a black and with photo of dancers with a quote below. The text is located on the center left of the panel. 
 
Visit This Exhibit Panel  
The Tennis Courts wayside is located next to the Jackson Square Tennis Courts on the east corner of Michigan Ave. and Broadway Ave.