Lake Erie College

Mary K. Browne was born in California in 1891. In 1912 she won the first of 3 successive U.S. Womens Championships in tennis. Between 1912 and 1926 she was 5 times the U.S. Womens Double Champion, 4 times U.S. Mixed Doubles Champion, and once the Wimbledon Doubles Champion. Some of her partners included Bill Tilden, Helen Wills and Elizabeth Ryan. She ranked as the number one player in Women's Tennis for 2 years. She was also captain of the U.S. Wightman Cup team for 2 years. In 1926 Mary K. Browne accepted an offer from C.C. Pyle to play against Suzanne Lenglen in the very first tennis tour. During the 1920's and 1930's Mary K., was she known, also won several golf championships: the Southern California Women's Championship, the Ohio State title and the Cleveland Championship 4 times. From 1930 Mark K. Browne was a part-time tennis instructor at Lake Erie College until 1951 except during World War II when she served with the American Red Cross in Australia and Italy. While t Lake Erie College she devised the tennis game of Battleboard Tennis with the first  backboard installed in Ritchie Gymnasium. She was also responsible for many outstanding tennis players coming to Lake Erie College for exhibition matches and individual tennis tournaments. She was an author of three respected tennis texts. Because of her worldwide tennis accomplishments, she was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1957 in Newport, RI. Later she became very successful and much sought-after portrait painter. After her very active tennis and golf career, she returned to California where she died in August 1971. It is indeed fitting that Mary K. Browne be inducted into the Lake Erie College Athletic Hall of Fame posthumously on this April 26, 1991