Althea Gibson

BORN: AUGUST 25, 1927, SILVER, SC

DIED: SEPTEMBER 28, 2003, EAST ORANGE, NJ

The loser says it may be possible, but it’s difficult; the winner says it may be difficult, but it’s possible.

Althea Gibson was a phenomenal tennis player and professional golfer who broke international barriers. She was the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title, at the 1956 French Open, and became the first African American to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 1957, winning straight sets, 6–3 6–2, in less than an hour. Althea’s Wimbledon performance so impressed Queen Elizabeth II of England that the queen personally shook her hand, congratulating the champion. She also became the first African American to win the US Open (then called the US Nationals) that year. Althea continued to break records in 1958 when she won the US Open and Wimbledon for the second time.

As a child, Althea and her family moved during the Great Migration to Harlem, in New York City, where she played paddle tennis on the street. She often skipped school to practice, despite her parents’ objections. A local musician, Buddy Walker, spotted Althea’s talent and introduced her to tennis at the Harlem River Tennis Club. Later, neighbors helped finance her lessons at the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club.

Althea’s entry to amateur tennis was fraught with prejudice and often compared to Jackie Robinson’s acceptance into professional baseball. Under the mentorship and sponsorship of legendary Doc Walter Johnson and Dr. Hubert Eaton, Althea received advanced instruction within the segregated American Tennis Association. In 1949, Althea became the first African American woman to play in the USTA National Indoor Championship. One year later she became the first African American invited to play in the US Nationals at Forest Hills. Althea continued to break barriers and records during her lifetime by winning eleven Grand Slam tournaments and more than fifty-six national and international singles and doubles titles by 1958.

Althea achieved many other firsts as a musician, a professional golfer, and a recreation and sports commissioner in New Jersey. She mentored younger athletes through neighborhood and urban tennis clinics, was inducted into the Inter-national Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, and was an inspiration to tennis players who followed her, including Arthur Ashe, Leslie Allen, Zina Garrison, and Venus and Serena Williams, who said, “Althea Gibson paved the way for all women of color in sport.”