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Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam event (the French Championships ).
- Early Life
- Making History
- Commercial Success
- Later Struggles
Althea Gibson blazed a new trail in the sport of tennis, winning some of the sport’s biggest titles in the 1950s and becoming the game’s first Black champion.Raised primarily in the Harlem borough of New York City, where Gibson and her family moved when she was young, her life had its hardships. Her family lived on public assistance for a time. Gib...
Gibson’s success at those ATA tournaments paved the way for her to attend college on a sports scholarship. She graduated from the school in 1953, but it was a struggle for her to get by. At one point, she even thought of leaving sports all together to join the U.S. Army. A good deal of her frustration had to do with the fact that so much of the ten...
As a professional, Gibson continued to win—she landed the singles title in 1960—but just as importantly, she started to make money. She was reportedly paid $100,000 for a playing a series of matches before Harlem Globetrotter games. For a short time, too, the athletically gifted Gibson played on the professional golf tour. But failing to win on the...
But just as her early childhood had been, Gibson’s last few years were dominated by hardship. She nearly went bankrupt before former tennis great Billy Jean King and others stepped in to help her out. Her health, too, went into decline. She suffered a stroke and developed serious heart problems. On September 28, 2003, Gibson died of respiratory fai...
Apr 2, 2014 · Famous Athletes. Black History. Althea Gibson was the first African American tennis player to compete at the U.S. National Championships in 1950, and the first Black player to compete at...
May 3, 1999 · Althea Gibson (born August 25, 1927, Silver, South Carolina, U.S.—died September 28, 2003, East Orange, New Jersey) was an American tennis player who dominated women’s competition in the late 1950s. She was the first Black player to win the French (1956), Wimbledon (1957–58), and U.S. Open (1957–58) singles championships.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 25, 2022 · Before Serena, There Was Althea. Althea Gibson was the first Black player to win Wimbledon. Soon, the block in Harlem where she grew up will bear her name. In 1957, Althea Gibson won the...
Tennis champion Althea Gibson (1927-2003) was the unlikely queen of the segregated tennis world in the 1950s. She was the first African American to play and win at Wimbledon and the U.S....
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Feb 7, 2022 · How Althea Gibson Broke the Color Barrier in Tennis. The Harlem-raised trailblazer learned to control her emotions and ride out the hostilities to become one of the sport’s transcendent ...
