University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 3/1996 Capturing the spirit of tennis in a museum When Melissa Hitchens Mulrooney, Delaware '77, stepped onto the grounds of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum for the first time, her senses tingled with excitement. Emerging from an arched entryway, she marveled at the meticulously manicured lawn tennis courts surrounded by elegant Victorian, shingle-style architecture. Inside the museum galleries, she ran her fingers across polished wooden display cases filled with memorabilia, some of the items more than a century old. Mulrooney says she felt as though she had slipped through time into a 19th-century sporting club. In fact, she had. The Tennis Hall of Fame Museum is housed in the 1880 Stanford White Complex that was once a fashionable social club in Newport, R.I., and site of the first U.S. Lawn Tennis Championships in 1881. "When I saw the facility, I was astounded," Mulrooney recalls. "It was breathtaking, a reverent tribute to the sport." Today, the Hall of Fame Museum, while still capturing the grand traditions of tennis history, has moved into the modern era of multimillion-dollar purses and 100-mph serves. In October 1994, Mulrooney became director of the Tennis Hall of Fame Museum in the midst of a major $7.5 million make- over and immediately became involved in the project with all of the spirit and enthusiasm she could muster. She had to. Within two weeks after starting the job, she was helping plan the third and perhaps most ambitious phase of the project-the development of contemporary galleries to capture the character of tennis from 1968 to the present. "I was thrown right into getting to know the collections, working with our exhibition design firm in Boston, meeting board members and really immersing myself in the history of the sport," Mulrooney says, with no small amount of amazement that she made it through. She not only survived; she thrived. Working long hours for months, she helped put together acclaimed modern galleries that feature a large-as-life video tennis match, video highlights from Grand Slam events, a nine-screen video wall showcasing Davis Cup and Olympic matches and push-button videos of other noteworthy matches. While helping design and prepare the modern galleries for last summer's opening, Mulrooney also assembled a special tribute exhibition for tennis star Chris Evert, to commemorate her induction last July into the Hall of Fame. Currently, Mulrooney is involved in the fourth phase of the five-phase project. Ironically, Mulrooney wasn't sure she was right for the job when she first heard about it. The Hall of Fame Museum initially had advertised for a curator. Having worked at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Del., for the previous 11 years, Mulrooney was interested, but her expertise was not as a curator. At the museum, she had been director of marketing communications, serving as the publications director, press officer and community outreach liaison. After learning of her interest and background, the Hall of Fame Museum recast the position. "My background fit what they needed," Mulrooney says. "They wanted someone who could take them through a major renovation project, was sensitive to museums and had the enthusiasm and experience to develop an overall vision for the Hall of Fame Museum." A theatre/performance major at Delaware, with a minor in English literature and communication, she began her career in the publishing business in Washington, D.C. After a year, she moved into the advertising business in Wilmington as a writer and, for many years, did radio and video advertising. Mulrooney says she also has a special fondness for the University of Delaware, "a family school" from which her parents, Howard B. Hitchens Jr. and Joan England Hitchens, both Delaware '50, and brothers Sean O'Casey Hitchens, Delaware '78, and the late Howard "Skip" Hitchens, Delaware '72, graduated. As director of the Tennis Hall of Fame Museum, Mulrooney is an integral player at a complex that also features a lawn tennis club with such public events as concerts and tournaments. "I like the multifaceted nature of the facility," she says. Mulrooney is a passionate tennis player and fan and says she doesn't mind at all the opportunity to occasionally rub elbows with some all-time great players, such as Rod Laver and Virginia Wade. Her biggest thrill came when she escorted Chris Evert through last year's tribute exhibition. "She was just delighted," Mulrooney recalls. "It was overwhelming for her to see her whole career represented in our gallery. She was very moved." If she has one regret, Mulrooney says it's that she isn't able to play as much tennis as she would like. "Here I am at the cradle and shrine of American lawn tennis, with 13 beautiful grass courts right out my door, and I didn't play that much last season. I haven't had a lot of spare time in this job, but it suits my nature to work under this kind of pressure. This is truly one of the most exciting things I've ever done in my career." -Marylee Sauder, Delaware '83