Swinging for the Stars: The Unstoppable Journey of LPGA Coach Gladys Lee from Fort Worth, Texas. By Black Texans, Inc.

Swinging for the Stars: The Unstoppable Journey of LPGA Coach Gladys Lee from Fort Worth, Texas. By Black Texans, Inc.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — On the sunlit greens of Fort Worth, where dreams stretch as far as the fairways, one name rises with every swing: Coach Gladys Lee.

More than a golf instructor.

More than a hall of fame legend.

More than a mentor.

She is a living symbol of perseverance — a woman who didn’t just master the game of golf, but transformed it into a launchpad for young Black girls to rise, dream, and claim their space in a world that wasn’t always ready for them.

A Hall of Fame Trailblazer

From the proud halls of I.M. Terrell High School — once the beacon of Black excellence in Fort Worth — Gladys Lee set out with one mission: to open doors that had been long shut.

And open them she did.

Her groundbreaking journey earned her:

• Induction into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame

• Recognition by the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame

Yet, her greatest victories have never been about trophies.

For decades, Coach Lee has been a champion for Black youth, especially girls — pushing past barriers of race, gender, and access. To her, golf is more than a sport.

It’s a strategy.

A classroom.

A lifelong roadmap to success, leadership, and confidence.

A Museum Honor: Trilogy of Her Story

Today, Coach Lee’s story shines inside the Trilogy of Her Story: Black Women Trailblazers from Fort Worth exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

There, alongside gospel powerhouse Mary Francine Reese Morrison and publishing queen Beatrice Elizabeth Pringle, Coach Lee stands as part of a living archive — celebrating Black women who didn’t just follow the rules but rewrote them.

For every young girl who walks through those museum doors, the message is clear:

Black women in Texas have never waited for permission. They’ve created their own lanes.

Mentoring the Next Generation: Little 6888th Historians

Though her name now rests on plaques and museum walls, Coach Lee’s heart beats in the community.

She partners closely with the Little 6888th Historians at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church — a fearless group of young scholars inspired by the legendary all-Black, all-female WWII unit, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which shattered racial and military barriers by clearing 17 million backlogged letters for U.S. troops.

This June, these young girls will stand tall in Washington, D.C., as the nation awards the Congressional Gold Medal to the “Yellow Roses of Texas.” But they aren’t just witnessing history — they’re recording it, contributing oral histories of Black women veterans to the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project.

These girls aren’t waiting for the future.

They’re already shaping it.

Life Lessons on the Green

Through the Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy and the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Program, Coach Lee is welcoming 25 young Black girls to the green — not just to teach them how to swing, but to teach them how to:

Read the course — and the world — with wisdom

Practice patience — because real wins take time

Lead boldly — even when the odds feel stacked

Build confidence — because they belong at every table, every tee

From her early days behind the scenes at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand to breaking barriers on the golf course, Coach Lee knows this truth:

Life’s biggest moves often happen between the strokes — under pressure, in silence, beneath the wide-open Texas sky.

Now, she’s passing that wisdom to the next generation.

From museum walls to congressional halls, from golf greens to Fort Worth streets — these young girls are swinging for the stars.

Legacy in their blood. Destiny in every swing.

Because when Coach Gladys Lee walks beside you, you don’t just play the game —

you change it.

-Black Texans, Inc.