City to vote on desegregated marker

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Austin City Council will vote next Thursday whether to support a historical marker on the Lions Municipal Golf Course, otherwise known as "Muny." The council action would support a marker to designate the 84-year-old course as the first desegregated golf course in the old Confederate States of America. The University of Texas Board of Regents is currently drawing up plans to possibly sell the course, and use the land for development.

That action has caused concern from community members and rallied a group called the Save Muny Campaign to find ways to save the golf course. In December, the Travis County Commission supported a resolution for the historical marker after the Travis County Historical Society voted to apply for a historical marker from the Texas Historical Commission.

Historical records uncovered by the Save Muny Campaign show the course was desegregated in 1951 after a decision to allow an African-American law student admission to the University of Texas Law School. In the wake of Sweatt vs. Painter, city leaders determined that segregation was necessary at the city's municipal golf course, rather than building a separate 9-hole course for African-Americans.