SHERO: Althea Gibson (Professional Athlete)
Before there was Serena or Venus Williams, Althea Gibson ruled the tennis court. Not many know her story, but her tale attributes to why other athletes’ stories were written. Gibson, born on August 25, 1927 in Harlem, New York, had a difficult childhood. Her family was on welfare, she was a client of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and she had… (MORE)
trouble in school due to many unexplained absences. She also ran away from home frequently. Gibson’s desire for playing paddle tennis at a recreation center was her saving grace. Her talent and interest in the game led her to win tournaments sponsored by the Police Athletic Leagues and the Parks Department. Musician Buddy Walker noticed her playing table tennis, and thought she might do well in tennis. He brought her to the Harlem River Tennis Courts, where she learned the game and began to excel. From then on Gibson got addicted to the game. She later became a member of the Harlem Cosmopolitan Tennis Club, a club for African American players. By 1942, Gibson had won the girls’ singles event at the American Tennis Association’s New York State Tournament.
(The American Tennis Association – ATA – was an all-black organization, providing tournament opportunities not otherwise available to African American tennis players.)
After winning again in 1944 and 1945, Gibson was offered an opportunity to develop her talents more fully: a wealthy South Carolina businessman opened his home to her and supported her in attending an industrial high school, while studying tennis privately. From 1950, she furthered her education, attending Florida A&M University, where she graduated in 1953. Then, in 1953, she became an athletic instructor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Gibson won the ATA women’s singles tournament ten years in a row, 1947 through 1956. But tennis tournaments outside the ATA remained closed to her, until 1950. In that year white tennis player Alice Marble wrote an article in American Lawn Tennis magazine, noting that this excellent player was not able to participate in the better-known championships, for no reason other than “bigotry.”
With something to prove, Althea Gibson entered the Forest Hills, New York, national grass court championship, the first African American player of either sex to be allowed to enter. Gibson then became the first African American invited to enter the all-England tournament at Wimbledon, playing there in 1951. She entered other tournaments, though at first winning only minor titles outside the ATA. In 1956, she won the French Open. In the same year, she toured worldwide as a member of a national tennis team supported by the U.S. State Department.
She began winning more tournaments, including the Wimbledon women’s doubles. In 1957, she won the women’s singles and doubles at Wimbledon. In celebration of this American win — and her achievement as an African American — New York City greeted her with a ticker tape parade. Gibson followed up with a win at Forest Hills in the women’s singles tournament.
In 1958, she again won both Wimbledon titles and repeated the Forest Hills women’s singles win. Her autobiography, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody, came out in 1958. In 1959, she turned pro, winning the women’s professional singles title in 1960. She also began playing professional women’s golf and she appeared in several films. Althea Gibson served from 1973 on in various national and New Jersey positions in tennis and recreation. Among her honors:
* 1971 – National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame
* 1971 – International Tennis Hall of Fame
* 1974 – Black Athletes Hall of Fame
* 1983 – South Carolina Hall of Fame
* 1984 – Florida Sports Hall of Fame
In the mid 1990s, Althea Gibson suffered from serious health problems including a stroke, and also struggled financially though many efforts at fund-raising helped ease that burden. She died on Sunday, September 28, 2003, but not before she knew of the tennis victories of Serena and Venus Williams.
Other African American tennis players like Arthur Ashe and the Williams sisters followed Gibson, whose achievements were unique as the first African American of either sex to break the color barrier in national and international tournament tennis at a time when prejudice and racism were far more pervasive in society and sports.
Tags: Althea Gibson, Shero, Teens, Tennis
