Celebrating Black History Month | As this year’s Black History Month embraces the theme “A Century of Commemoration,” we look back to February 1926, when Robert H. Hawkins laid the foundation for a bold new vision. His founding of Mapledale Country Club (Stow, MA), established one of the earliest Black country clubs in the United States, and through 1928, it played host the first-ever organized national championship for Black golfers. While Hawkins had to sell the club years later due to the financial pressures of the Great Depression, portions of the original nine-hole course remain preserved today along the South Course at Stow Acres Country Club. Since 2022, the group Rediscover Mapledale has worked tirelessly to honor that legacy through events, tributes, and on-site historical signage. The group's goal is to maintain the site in its historical context, using a Conservation Restriction to keep the land undeveloped and for golf use as long as it remains economically feasible. ...