Meet the Man Behind Tennis' Premier Magazine
Learn about the beginning of American Lawn Tennis magazine and its founder and longtime editor, Steven Wallis Merrihew.
Stephen Wallis Merrihew
Merrihew (October 14, 1862 - March 21, 1947) was the founder and longtime editor of American Lawn Tennis
magazine. He spent his younger years in Wilmington, Delaware, and tennis was not his first sporting passion.
Watercolour, Austral Wheel Race & R Bagot (2001) by Robert Ingpen Melbourne Cricket Club
Merrihew on two wheels
In his early twenties, Merrihew (not pictured) took up bicycle riding and racing, with the penny-farthing his vehicle of choice. With most of his riding days occurring between 1885 and 1900, he rode for both the Wilmington Wheelmen and the Pennsylvania Bicycle Club.
A journalistic and editorial career begins
Merrihew had moved to New York City in the 1880s and became associate editor of Bicycle World from 1895-1900. He then switched to a magazine focused on four wheels rather than two, Automotive Topics , where he rose to the position of editor, where he remained until 1911.
Merrihew picks up a racquet
In 1901, Merrihew began playing tennis daily. He recalled, "I was a tennis bug or fan, one who played six or seven times a week at the Dean Street grounds of the King's County Club in Brooklyn, New York."
Soon tennis took priority in his journalistic endeavors.
Why start another tennis magazine?
Though sporting magazines covered tennis since the 1870s, few magazines solely devoted to the sport managed to last longer than a few years at best. The last regularly published magazine was J. Parmly Paret’s Lawn Tennis , which concluded in April 1903.
S.W. Merrihew (1910/1940) by unidentified International Tennis Hall of Fame
The sport’s popularity was growing exponentially, and the public were clamoring for a new magazine to bring the sport to their fingertips.
Merrihew had ambitious plans for a superior publication to any that had come before. This new magazine would include tennis news from around the country (and overseas), tournament results, commentary on issues facing the sport, player interviews and insight, and photographs.
United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) Logos International Tennis Hall of Fame
Role of tennis' governing body in magazine publishing
The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now known as the USTA) oversaw all aspects of competitive tennis in the United States. Their primary goal was to grow and promote the sport.
Merrihew saw this as an opportunity for his gaining support for his plans.
The official organ of the USNLTA
In March 1907 Merrihew was invited to a meeting by the Executive Committee of the USNLTA to present his plans for this new magazine. His proposal impressed them. Merrihew’s plan was accepted, and American Lawn Tennis magazine was born.
“Believing that performance speaks much more convincingly than words, American Lawn Tennis submits this, its initial number, to the tennis players of the country, not as a model issue or a complete fulfillment of its promise to produce a journal that will fittingly represent the sport, but as an earnest of its intentions and purposes.” - Stephen Wallis Merrihew
It began with 32 pages
The first issue was published on April 15, 1907. With fifteen issues a year, Merrihew's magazine primarily focused on tennis (and occasionally other racquet sports) in the United States, but also reported on international events, evidenced by readership in 72 countries.
Dedicated to his readers
Merrihew (left) was an astute and respected observer of tennis, passionate about reporting on the sport. To ensure this magazine did not fail like others had in the past, he borrowed money for about five years to keep the magazine going in the early years.
Dedicated to those who played
Merrihew supported racial diversity, the concept of open tennis (where amateurs and professionals competed together), the development of junior tennis, collegiate tennis, major events, club events, women's tennis – anything to do with the sport and its players.
Stephen Wallis Merrihew (1900/1930) by unidentified International Tennis Hall of Fame
Passing the torch and the end of an era
On October 23, 1942, ownership of the magazine passed to Dr. William Plumer Jacobs. Merrihew stayed on as editor and writer until his death at age 84 on March 21, 1947.
The magazine itself lasted only a few more years, ceasing publication with the October 1951 issue.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame would like to acknowledge the dedicated and thorough research completed by Richard Hillway and Geoff Felder in their article "Stephen Wallis Merrihew & American Lawn Tennis" published in the Autumn 2013 issue of the Journal of the Tennis Collectors of America that aided us in developing this story.
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