Counter To Unveil Arthur Ashe Memorial

S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations will travel to Richmond, Va., this weekend to unveil a memorial he designed in honor of tennis great Arthur R. Ashe.

The monument, which will stand in the cemetery where Ashe was buried after his death in February, will be dedicated tomorrow, which would have been Ashe's 50th birthday.

Ashe, the first Black player to win Wimbledon, announced that he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a short time after basketball star Magic Johnson announced that he was infected with the HIV virus. Ashe was the Class Day speaker at the Harvard Medical School in 1992, and had been active in AIDS education efforts before his death.

Ashe recently published a book, Days of Grace, on his experience with the virus.

Counter is the chair of the Arthur Ashe Memorial Committee. He said he was asked by the Ashe family to design the memorial.

"It's really a tribute to a great person--someone I knew as a friend," Counter said. "I was honored to have been asked to design the monument."

Counter said he has designed several other monuments, including one to Arctic explore Matthew Hanson. He said that although no other administrators or faculty members at Harvard had been involved in the design, several students active in the Harvard Foundation had assisted in creating the plans for the monument.

Counter said the structure is approximately 5 ft. by 4 ft. "It's very large, done in jet-black granite and gold," Counter said. "It has his face in bas-relief in gold with 'Arthur Robert Jr. Ashe,' then 'Distinguished Athlete. Scholar and Humanitarian' on it."

Underneath that is a bas-relief gold representation of Ashe's book about the history of Black athletes in American culture, "A Hard Road to Glory." It sits atop two crossed gold tennis rackets, representing Ashe's well-known career, Counter said.

Gov. L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia will preside over the ceremony Counter said yesterday. Ashe's wife, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, will unveil the memorial with Counter, and the Rev. Andrew Young will dedicate the structure. Poet Maya Angelou, who spoke at President Clinton's inauguration, will deliver a memorial reading Counter said

Counter said the structure is approximately 5 ft. by 4 ft. "It's very large, done in jet-black granite and gold," Counter said. "It has his face in bas-relief in gold with 'Arthur Robert Jr. Ashe,' then 'Distinguished Athlete. Scholar and Humanitarian' on it."

Underneath that is a bas-relief gold representation of Ashe's book about the history of Black athletes in American culture, "A Hard Road to Glory." It sits atop two crossed gold tennis rackets, representing Ashe's well-known career, Counter said.

Gov. L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia will preside over the ceremony Counter said yesterday. Ashe's wife, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, will unveil the memorial with Counter, and the Rev. Andrew Young will dedicate the structure. Poet Maya Angelou, who spoke at President Clinton's inauguration, will deliver a memorial reading Counter said