First African American Woman in the U.S. Tennis: Althea Gibson

 Althea Gibson

U.S Tennis player althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in Clarendon County, South Carolina. In 1930, her family moved to Harlem, NY, where Gibson grew up, she began playing tennis at an early age under the auspices of New York Police Athletic League.

Gibson's Tennis career

In 1942, Gibson won her first tournament, sponsored by the American Tennis Association (ATA), an organization founded by African American players. In 1947, she captured the ATA's wone's singles championship, a title she held for ten years. While attending Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, she continued to compete in tournaments nationwide. In 1950, she became the first black player invited to the U.S. National Championships. Standing at 5'11, Gibson was known for her powerful and dominating serves, she won several tournaments in both Asia and Europe, including the French and Italian singles and the women's doubles title at Wimbledon. From 1957 to 1958, Gibson won the Wimbledon women's singles and doubles titles and the U.S. women's singles championship at Forest Hills. She also won the U.S. mixed doubles and the Australian women's doubles in 1957. 

   

Making History 

In 1957, Gibson was voted female athlete of the year by the Associated Press, becoming the first African American to receive the honor; she won the award again the following year. She worked her way to the top ranks in the world amateur tennis before turning professional after her 1958 Forrest Hills win. Even though there were limited tournaments and prizes for women at the time, Gibson took up professional golf in 1964 and became the first African American member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. From 1973 to 1992, she was active in sports administration for the state of New Jersey. Her autobiography, " I Always Wanted to Be Somebody," was published in 1958. in 1971, she was elected to the Roosevelt from the NCAA.

Althea Gibson passed away from Respiratory failure on September 28, 2003, in Orange, New Jersey. in 2013, she was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in Black Heritage series. 

Resources: 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Althea-Gibson

https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/althea-gibson