Althea Gibson

Althea Gibson was an American tennis player and golfer who became the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1956 French Championships.

Alice Marble: Alice Marble was an American tennis champion who urged the United States Lawn Tennis Association to admit Althea Gibson to its championships. Marble publicly pressed tennis authorities to let Gibson compete at the national championships.
1956 French Championships: The 1956 French Championships were a Grand Slam tennis tournament in Paris where Althea Gibson won the women’s singles title. Gibson’s victory made her the first Black player to win a Grand Slam singles championship.
Harlem: Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City, known for its Black cultural and political history. Gibson grew up in Harlem, where paddle tennis first drew her into competitive sport.
Racial segregation in the United States: Racial segregation in the United States was the enforced separation and unequal treatment of people by race, especially under Jim Crow laws. Segregation restricted access to the tournaments and facilities Gibson had to enter.
Billie Jean King: Billie Jean King is an American tennis champion and advocate for gender equality in sports. King later recognized Gibson’s pathbreaking influence on Black women in tennis.
1957 Wimbledon Championships: The 1957 Wimbledon Championships were a tennis tournament in which Althea Gibson won the women’s singles and doubles titles. Gibson became the first Black champion of Wimbledon’s women’s singles.
Paddle tennis: Paddle tennis is a racket sport played on a compact court with solid paddles and a depressurized ball. Gibson’s success in paddle tennis brought her to the attention of tennis supporters.
Jim Crow laws: Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement in the American South from the late nineteenth century into the 1960s. These laws formed part of the wider system that excluded Black athletes from many sporting spaces.
Arthur Ashe: Arthur Ashe was an American tennis player and the first Black man to win the US Open and Wimbledon singles titles. Ashe followed Gibson in breaking racial barriers at tennis’s highest levels.
1957 U.S. National Championships: The 1957 U.S. National Championships were a tennis tournament in which Althea Gibson won the women’s singles title. Her victory made her the first Black woman to win the tournament’s singles championship.

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