According to Ebony magazine, the most popular participatory sport for black urban Americans was bowling. Yet, like most institutions, bowling was segregated. The American Bowling Congress (ABC), governing body for most bowling leagues, did not allow black membership. Blacks founded the National Negro Bowling Association (NNBA) in 1939, and in 1944 its name was changed to the National Bowling Association (NBA).

In 1948 the National Committee for Fair Play in Bowling, chaired by Minneapolis mayor Hubert Humphrey, began to pressure the ABC and the Womens' International Bowling Congress (WIBC) to change their "whites only" policy. In 1951 the ABC and the WIBC changed their rules to allow any qualified bowler into their tournaments; but the rule change did not result immediately in integration.

In the 1950s four NBA bowlers won both national singles and all-around titles. Ben Harding (1950) and William Rhodman (1953) won men's titles...