Althea Gibson
In 1936, the world watched Jesse Owens stand up to Hitler at the Berlin Olympics, and a decade later witnessed Jackie Robinson stepping across the color line of baseball. All the while, Althea Gibson was quietly building her skills at another game whose color barrier she would destroy. Against all odds, Althea would become the next great American hero, and, for a time, the greatest tennis player in the world.
Despite the racial breakthroughs of earlier decades, segregation still ruled the sports world of the 1950s, and nowhere more so than in the "genteel" game of tennis. The game had opened up to women, at least, and boasted new great stars like Hellen Wills and Alice Marble. While these new darlings of the tennis world were exciting to watch, they were also, as a group, very white. A "negro" player was allowed to play in the all-black ATA (American Tennis Association), which was a competitive and well-respected league, but provided a lower level of play than the tournaments like Forest Hills and Wimbledon.
She won the singles championship for ten years at the ATA level. In a row. Althea was ready to move up. Her undeniable star potential was becoming an embarrassment to the organizers of all-white tournaments-why wasn't she being invited to Forest Hills and Wimbledon? It took Alice Marble-one of the game's finest players-to finally speak out on Althea's behalf. In 1950, Althea was invited to Forest Hills and the next year to Wimbledon.
When she played at Forest Hills and Wimbledon, she was the first black person-of either sex-to ever do so. Suddenly, in 1957, Althea's game exploded. That year, she took the singles titles at both Wimbledon and Forest Hills, and in 1958 won at Wimbledon again. These victories were a stunning personal success for the player who had begun the game on the rough streets of Harlem. But their importance from a social perspective cannot be overstated-Althea Gibson had single-handedly smashed the color barriers of tennis by being, for two glorious years, the best player in the world.
Excerpted from the book Cool Women with permission of publisher, Girl Press.
Learn More About Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson Biography
http://www.altheagibson.com/bio.html
Find out more about the life of Althea Gibson, who started taking tennis lessons in Harlem as a child and became a champion.
America's Library on Gibson
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/pages/bjb_0706_gibson_1.html
Read about her rise to fame, with pictures and stories.
ESPN: Gibson's Scores
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014035.html
Read more about her tennis scores and experience in the world of professional tennis at ESPN.
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