110 HRES 899 IH: Recommending that the Langston Golf Course U.S. House of Representatives 2007-12-19 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 899 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 19, 2007 Mr. Clay (for himself, Mr. Udall of Colorado, and Mr. Grijalva) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources RESOLUTION Recommending that the Langston Golf Course located in northeast Washington, DC, and owned by the U.S. National Park Service, be recognized for its important legacy and contributions to African-American golf history, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Langston Golf Course was designated for construction by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the 1930s as a safe and expanded recreational facility for the local and National African-American communities; Whereas Langston Golf Course was named for John Mercer Langston, the first African-American U.S. Representative elected to the U.S. Congress from the State of Virginia, and who also was a founder of the Howard University Law School; Whereas the Langston Golf Course is believed to be the first regulation course built in the United States almost entirely on a refuse landfill; Whereas Langston Golf Course has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Capitol City Open golf tournament has made Langston Golf Course its home for the past 40 years; Whereas the first American-born golf professional of African-American ancestry was John Shippen, who was born circa 1878 in the Anacostia area of Washington, placed fifth in the second U.S. Open golf tournament in 1896 at 16 years old, and helped found the Capitol City Golf Club in 1925; Whereas the Capitol City Golf Club, eventually was renamed the Royal Golf Club and Wake Robin Women’s Club, has historically promoted a safe golf facility for African-Americans in Washington during an era of few available facilities, and these 2 clubs remain the oldest African-American golf clubs in the United States; Whereas the Langston facility continues to provide important recreational outlets, instructional forums, and a safe haven center for the enhancement of the lives of the City of Washington's inner city youth; Whereas the Langston Golf Course and related recreational facilities provide a home for the Nation’s important minority youth First Tee golf instruction and recreational program in Washington; Whereas Langston Golf Course operations and its related facilities seek to increase course-based educational opportunities as part of the National Park Service for persons under 18 years of age, particularly those from populations of the inner-city and historically underrepresented among visitors to units of the National Park System; Whereas the preservation and ecologically balanced enhancements via future public and private funding for the lands making up the 212 acres of the Langston Golf Course will contribute to the positive benefit of the National Park System’s Environmental Leadership projects program, the Anacostia River Watershed, its importance to the City of Washington, and that of the entire metropolitan area; Whereas Federal funds for enhancements to the Langston course have perennially been promised but rarely provided, even after the designation of Langston Golf Course as a Legacy Project for the 21st Century, and after significant private funding and contributions were committed and provided; and Whereas the Langston Golf Course and related recreational facilities have traditionally provided additional quality of life value to all residents of Washington and will do more so once upgraded to meet its obvious athletic and historical promise: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the United States House of Representatives that— (1)it is imperative that the Director of the National Park Service and Secretary of the Interior comprehensively develop a plan to upgrade the Langston Golf Course physical infrastructure, building facilities, and enhance appropriately future annual budgets for this important park in the National Park System; and (2)the Director of the National Park Service assess and designate a proper working museum within the confines of the Langston Golf Course to adequately commemorate the important history of this golf, recreational, and instructional African-American sports institution as a unique part of the National Park System.