Vassar builds first college court

Vassar President Henry MacCraken dropped by the Blanchard’s unexpectedly in late 1931 “to find out about paddle tennis.” It was a necessary visit since an alumna had donated a court.

The article headline in the New York Sun on October 24, 1931 read: “Paddle Tennis to Be Tried Out at Vassar.”

At the end of a brief article about the game the Sun added, “Vassar is the first college to experiment with the new form of sport.” Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure, likely due to poor choices of court location and backstops, and the fact that there was only one court.

Source: Adapted from Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959

Also see The game starts to catch on