GIBSON, Althea

(b. 25 August 1927 in Silver, South Carolina), tennis champion, golf professional, state official, and the first African American to compete in major tennis championships.

Gibson, the eldest of five children of Daniel Gibson and Anna Washington Gibson, sharecroppers, moved with her family from South Carolina to Harlem, New York City, in 1929. She grew up on West 135th Street and was what can only be described as a problem child. She played hooky from school and remembers riding the subways for hours at a time rather than return home to face her parents' wrath. Tall, strong, and athletic, Gibson played paddle tennis on New York City streets before switching to lawn tennis in the 1940s. Recognizing her athletic talent, her father attempted to teach his headstrong daughter how to box. After she knocked him down, he allowed her to pursue her own dreams of tennis.

She won the National Negro girls' championship twice and was tutored by Dr. Robert Johnson of Lynchburg, Virginia. The African-American physician recognized her talent and practically adopted her while training her in the style and etiquette of lawn tennis. She entered Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1949 on a tennis scholarship. She played for the school on the tennis and basketball teams and graduated in 1953 with a B.S. degree.

That seemed to be the summit of Gibson's ambitions, as African Americans simply did not play lawn tennis in the first fifty years of the sport. Lawn tennis establishments refused membership and play time to African Americans, who therefore could not obtain the points and ranking needed to play in major championships like Forest Hills and Wimbledon. Even well-meaning white Americans did not understand the pervasive discrimination that prevented African-American athletes from attaining their potential—not until 1950, when Gibson applied to play at the U.S. Championships at Forest Hills.

Gibson was ready for lawn tennis, but lawn tennis was not ready for an African-American player. She was not invited to any event until the former champion Alice Marble wrote a stinging editorial in American Lawn Tennis in July 1950. Marble pointed out that black talent could not be denied, that tennis would eventually open its doors as the U.S. armed forces had recently done. Rather than wait, Marble urged, the tennis establishment should embrace African-American players.

Largely because of Marble's essay, Gibson entered the courts at Forest Hills on 28 August 1950, the first African American to do so. Later Gibson recalled, "There was a terrible thunderstorm during my first match at Forest Hills. One of those eagles [concrete eagles adorning the upper level of the stadium] was struck by lightning. I couldn't believe it. The eagle fell to the ground, and luckily nobody was killed. It may have been an omen that times were changing."

Gibson won her first match in convincing fashion. In the second round she faced Louise Brough, the tournament's third seed. Rain delays spread the match over two days, and though she held a significant lead, Gibson was ultimately defeated. It was a match that showed the importance of battle seasoning; while she was a remarkable athlete, Gibson had not yet fully matured. The following year (1951) she became the first black person to play in the All-England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon.

The maturity and the seasoning took such a long time that around 1955 Gibson was ready to give up on tennis altogether. She was dissuaded from giving up by an invitation to play exhibition matches on a goodwill tour in Southeast Asia. Perhaps because she was away from the United States—and racial pressures—she shone on the tour, defeating all her rivals. So Gibson was back in tennis, but was yet to prove herself ready for the big-time matches—the Grand Slam events.

Gibson's first win in the majors came at Roland Garros in 1956. She won the French Championship, defeating Angela Mortimer, 6–0, 12–10. Gibson was the first African American ever to win one of the "Grand Slam" events, which are the Australian, French, English, and U.S. championships. Considering that Gibson had grown up playing paddle tennis and on hard courts, her win on the soft clay was remarkable and presaged greater things to come.

Gibson lost at the finals of the U.S. National Championship at Forest Hills that autumn, but the coming year, 1957, was to be all hers. She defeated fellow American Darlene Hard at Wimbledon by the lopsided score of 6–3, 6–2. Minutes later came a historic event; Gibson received the Wimbledon Cup from the hand of Queen Elizabeth II. Not only the first African American in tennis, she was now the first to win the All-England Championships.

Glory led to further glory. Gibson was welcomed back to New York City that summer by a ticker-tape parade. This was a huge moment for African-American pride, as had been the success of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in baseball's major leagues, a few years earlier. Gibson had broken the color barrier in tennis, and done so with panache.

That September, Gibson won the U.S. National Championship at Forest Hills. She creamed Louise Brough, 6–3, 6–2. Minutes later she received congratulations and the cup from Vice President Richard Nixon. It was another historic moment, one that would not be equaled in intensity until Arthur Ashe won the same tournament in 1968.

Ten days before Gibson won at Forest Hills, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine, perhaps the first African-American woman to achieve that distinction. The accompanying Time article, "That Gibson Girl," chronicled Gibson's long struggle to achieve a place on the court and to mature into the great player she had become. In 1957 Gibson stood among those who publicly represented the pride and dignity of African Americans. Jackie Robinson, who had just retired from baseball, and Marian Anderson, who in 1955 had been the first African American to perform at New York's Metropolitan Opera, were others. Also in 1957 Gibson became the number-one ranked female tennis player in the world and the Associated Press named her the Female Athlete of the Year.

Gibson repeated her successes in 1958. She defeated Angela Mortimer at Wimbledon, 8–6, 6–2, and Darlene Hard at Forest Hills, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2. There was no doubt that after years of poverty, obscurity, and difficulties, Gibson was the number-one player in the world. She was truly tennis queen that year.

Like most players of that time, Gibson turned professional after her triumphs. She went to pro status in 1958 and played exhibition matches before and at intervals between Harlem Globetrotter games. She also found time to appear in a John Wayne movie, The Horse Soldiers (1958).

Life on the professional circuit proved less rewarding psychologically than Gibson's years as an amateur. She retired from tennis rather early and looked for another challenge, which she found in the newly expanding Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). She entered golf in 1964 and competed in a number of tournaments over the next few years. Her height and arm strength proved an asset, but she had taken up the game too late to make a powerful impact. Even so, she was the first African-American woman to hold an LPGA player card; once again, she led the way.

Gibson married William Darben in 1965 and Sidney Llewellyn in 1983. She retired from golf in 1967 and spent many years as a tennis teacher. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Gibson became special consultant to the New Jersey Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport in 1988.

Sadly, circumstances took Gibson down financially. She suffered a stroke in 1995, then two years later her former doubles partner Angela Buxton revealed that the Gibson was financially destitute; medical bills and investments gone sour had ruined her finances. The Althea Gibson Foundation raised approximately $100,000 to rescue Gibson from her plight. In 1999 the Althea Gibson Early Childhood Education Academy opened in East Orange, New Jersey, where she had lived since 1970.

Gibson was a terrific tennis player, a tough competitor, and wonderful role model. At her best, she was among the top dozen women players between 1950 and 2000.

Informative books include Women ' s Tennis: A Historical Documentary of the Players and Their Game, by Angela Lumpkin (1981), and Gibson's own books: I Always Wanted to Be Somebody (1958), edited by Ed Fitzgerald, and So Much to Live For (1968). Relevant articles about Gibson include "That Gibson Girl," Time (26 Aug. 1957); and Ken Kamlet, "Going It Alone," Tennis (Sept. 1999).

Samuel Willard Crompton