Segregation truly did impact all aspects of life at its height, and arguably still does to an extent. Sport was no exception. However, in the world of tennis, a player emerged who helped break down some of the barriers for future generations. Althea Gibson grew up in Harlem, New York, and it was there she discovered a talent for tennis.
In 1950, at the age of 23, Althea Gibson became the first African-American to be invited by the US Lawn Tennis Association and permitted to play at the US Nationals. By 1956, Gibson continued to make history by becoming the first black person to win the French championships. The next year, she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals, defending those titles successfully in 1958. Althea Gibson’s accomplishments also made her the first African-American to appear on both the covers of Time Magazine (August, 1957) and Sports Illustrated (September, 1957).
It was not only tennis that Althea Gibson enjoyed and had a talent for. In the early 1960s, she became the first black woman to compete on the women’s professional golf tour, although her golfing career was never as successful as her tennis one.
Gibson was inducted into both the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, and then the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Sadly, Althea Gibson died in September 2003, but her contributions to tennis, and to a lesser extent golf, will never be forgotten – she is undeniably a part of the sport’s history.
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