Joseph Bartholomew (golf course designer)

Joseph Manuel Bartholomew, Sr.
BornAugust 1, 1885
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 12, 1971(1971-10-12) (aged 86)[1]
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Other namesJoseph M. Bartholomew,
Joseph M. Bartholomew Sr.,
Joe M. Bartholomew
OccupationArchitect
Known forGolf course architectural designs

Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. (August 1, 1885–October 12, 1971), was an American architect, philanthropist, and golf course designer.[1][2][3]

Early life

Bartholomew was born on August 1, 1885 New Orleans, Louisiana.[4] However some sources have his year of birth as either 1881, or 1888.[5][1] He attended school up until the 8th grade.[5] As a child, he served as a caddie at the Audubon Golf Course; in adulthood he became a greenskeeper at the course.[6]

Career

Bartholomew was the first African American man to build a public golf course, even though he was often barred from playing on these fields due to racial segregation.[1] His first construction project was for the Metairie Golf Club. After spending time in New York learning about golf course architecture, he began construction of the Louisiana course in 1922. For the next ten years, Bartholomew designed and built several courses across Louisiana, including City Park No. 1, City Park No. 2, and Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans.[7][8] The Pontchartrain was renamed Joseph M. Bartholomew Sr. Golf Course, for Bartholomew in 1979.[9][10]

Bartholomew also maintained his own construction company and expanded his business into landscaping.

He was the first African-American inducted to the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.[11] He was a major contributor to Dillard University and Xavier University of Louisiana.[12] Bartholomew's profile was included in the biographical dictionary African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945 (2004).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Johnson, Roy S. (February 5, 2020). "Overlooked No More: Joseph Bartholomew, Golf Course Architect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Joseph M. Bartholomew – First African American Golf Course Architect and Designer". African American Golfer's Digest. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  3. ^ Kahn, Eve M. (June 3, 2004). "A Book Remembers Forgotten Architects". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Once Racially Discriminated From His Own Architecture, Joseph Bartholomew is Overlooked No More". ArchDaily. February 14, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  6. ^ "Joseph Bartholomew". The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  7. ^ "Joe Bartolomew - Hall of Fame". Official Site of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Archived from the original on February 8, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  8. ^ Campanella, Catherine (2011). New Orleans City Park. Arcadia Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7385-8758-5.
  9. ^ "Home". Joseph Bartholomew Golf Course. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  10. ^ Sinnette, Calvin H. (1998). Forbidden Fairways: African Americans and the Game of Golf. Sleeping Bear Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-886947-42-9.
  11. ^ Williams, Jessica (June 10, 2018). "Pontchartrain Park residents seek historic designation for pioneering black subdivision". NOLA.com. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "Joe Bartholomew, an early Golfer and Golf Course designer". African American Registry. Retrieved March 15, 2020.