Bill Spiller

Bill Spiller (October 25, 1913 – 1988) was an American professional golfer who helped break the color barrier in the sport.

Biography
Spiller was born in Tishomingo, Oklahoma and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma with his father when he was nine years old. He grew up in a city that had a history of racial violence, such as the Tulsa race massacre. He was an excellent athlete, a two-sport star in high school. He later attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and earned an education degree.

He did not start playing golf until he was around 30 years old. He moved to Southern California to work as a teacher but also had to take an additional job as a railroad porter. He was introduced to competitive golf by another porter in Los Angeles, and he began to participate and win in amateur golf tournaments for black players in the 1940s.

In 1948, Spiller faced discrimination when he was barred from entering the Richmond Open golf tournament in Richmond, California, due to the PGA of America's segregation policy of excluding non-white players.

Spiller and another golfer, Ted Rhodes, sued the PGA for violating the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibited discrimination in labor unions. After the PGA pledged to stop its discriminatory practices, the lawsuit was withdrawn. However, the PGA persisted in organizing "invitational tournaments" that still barred African-American, black players from participating.

In 1952, Spiller and Joe Louis were excluded from the San Diego Open, which caused a national outcry and legal threats. The PGA again promised to change, but it still kept the segregation clause. In 1960, Stanley Mosk, the attorney general of California, stepped in and cautioned the PGA that they would be barred from utilizing public golf courses unless they ceased their discriminatory policies. Consequently, in November 1961, the PGA consented to eliminate the clause enforcing segregation.

However, Spiller’s golf career had already suffered, as he had taken up golf relatively late in life and retired before the segregation clause was removed. In 2009, the PGA of America granted posthumous membership to Spiller, Rhodes, and John Shippen, and also honored Joe Louis with posthumous honorary membership.