Who was Althea Gibson?
Althea Neale Gibson was an American tennis player, professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis.
During her adolescents, she spent most of her time playing sports in a Police Athletic League play area. She quickly became a skilled paddle tennis player, and in 1939, at the age of 12, Gibson was the New York City women’s paddle tennis champion. The following year, a group on Gibson’s neighbors took up a collection to finance a junior membership and lessons at the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club.
In 1941, Gibson won and entered the American Tennis Association (ATA) New York State Championship – her first tournament. She also won the ATA National Championship in the girls’ division in 1944 and 1945. Like many great athletes, Gibson lost in the women’s final in 1946, but redeemed herself in 1947, winning her first of ten straight National ATA women’s title.
As stated by WilmaMag, from 1946 to 1949, Eaton and his wife opened their home to Gibson, who stayed in their upstairs bedroom while she trained during the winter months. In 1949, she became the first African American woman, and second African American athlete to play in the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USTA) National Indoor Championships – where she reached quarter finals. Gibson also became the first African American player to receive an invitation to the United States National Championships. Although she lost in the second round, her participation received national and international coverage. She won her first international title, the Caribbean Championship in Jamaica in 1951. Later that year she became one of the first African American competitors at Wimbledon.
In 1956, Gibson made history once again, becoming the first African American athlete to win a Grand Slam tournament. She also won the doubles title, the Wimbledon doubles championship, the Indian Championship, the Asia Championship, reached the quarter finals in singles at Wimbledon, and the finals at The United Stated Nationals.
As stated by Wikipedia, 1957 was what she called “Althea Gibson’s year”. She beat, Darlene Hard, in the finals for the singles title. She was the first African American champion in the tournaments’ 80- year history, received the trophy personally from Queen Elizabeth II, and won the doubles championship – for the second year.
When Gibson returned home, she was honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City, and was presented with a Bronze Medallion – the city’s highest civilian award. In 1957, she became the first African American to be voted by the Associated Press as its Female Athlete of the Year, winning again in 1958. She also became the first African American woman to appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time.
Althea Gibson was a woman of many accomplishments. She ran multiple clinics, and tennis outreach programs over the next three decades, and coached numerous rising competitors, including Leslie Allen and Zina Garrison.
In the late 1980’s Althea Gibson suffered two cerebral hemorrhages and a stroke in 1992. On September 28th,2003, at the 1ge of 76, Gibson passed away due to complications following respiratory and bladder infections.
Books
*Kids*
Althea Gibson: The Story of Tennis’ Fleet-OF-Foot-Girl | Megan Reid
Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson | Sue Stauffacher
Playing to Win: The Story of Althea Gibson | Karen Deans
Althea Gibson: Young Tennis Player | Beatrice Gormley
Althea Gibson | Mike Benson
*Adults*
Born to win: The Autobiography of Althea Gibson | Yannick Rick Lamb & Frances Clayton Gray
Movie(s)/Film(s)/Documentaries'
Althea | 2015
Sources
"Unmatched: Honoring tennis legend Althea Gibson." WilmaMag, 1 December 2019, https://www.wilmamag.com/unmatched/
"Althea Gibson.", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 May 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althea_Gibson
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