An unexpected gift arrived last December at the public golf course that Renee Powell’s father carved out of an old dairy farm in East Canton, Ohio. Interspersed with holiday mail was an envelope with a Scotland postmark. Inside was a letter of invitation for Powell to become one of the first seven female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, known as the home of golf.
During her playing days on the L.P.G.A. Tour from 1967 to 1980, Powell, who is African-American, received mail that reflected a nation’s divisiveness. There were many “not so pleasant letters,” as she described them, including signed death threats.