Dorothy Crowe Vest (May 10, 1919 in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

– January 7, 2013 ) was a female

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

. She is the eponym of Jackson's Dorothy Vest Tennis Center. Vest is known for establishing the sport of tennis in Mississippi. During her career she participated in competitions which led to

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

tennis events and was undefeated in

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

with her partner Slew Hester. In 1979 her family was selected for the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

's Ralph W. Westcott USTA Family of the Year Award, and in 1980 Dorothy Vest was inducted into the

Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Jackson, Mississippi. The hall of fame was established in 1961 and is currently located in a museum that displays the achievements of Mississippi athletes. The museum opened on July 4, ...

. Her two daughters— Rebecca L. "Becky" Vest (inducted 1998) and Carol Ann Vest Dunn (inducted 2003)--are in the Mississippi Tennis Hall of Fame. From 1951 to 1981 Dorothy Vest was Director of Tennis for the City of Jackson, where she not only coached the game but also supervised the building of tennis facilities. The Mississippi Tennis Association annually gives a Dorothy Vest Award for the best male tennis player and the best female tennis player in Mississippi.Mississippi Tennis Association
awards site (accessed 2011-11-21). As of 2011 Vest lived in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Notes

1919 births 2013 deaths American female tennis players American Presbyterians Mississippi Republicans Sportspeople from Brownsville, Texas Sportspeople from Jackson, Mississippi Tennis players from Mississippi Tennis players from Dallas Texas Republicans 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-tennis-bio-stub