Even if you’re not a tennis fan, you’ve probably heard of Venus and Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe and current US Open women’s champion Coco Gauff.
South Carolina native and tennis legend Althea Gibson paved the way for these African-American tennis greats. In 1956, Gibson was the first black tennis player to win a Grand Slam. She won 11 Grand Slam tournaments in singles and doubles and was ranked No. 1 in the world, despite facing incessant racism throughout her career. That legacy is the subject of a new book, “The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson.”
Gibson had a powerful serve that helped her dominate tennis in the 1950s. She was the first black woman to win the French Open in 1956 and in 1957 she became the first African American to win the U.S. Open.
“I believe my style of play was aggressive, dynamic and nasty,” Althea said in an interview.
Later that year, Gibson became the first African American to win the women’s singles at Wimbledon, earning her a guest appearance on the popular “Ed Sullivan Show.”
“It all started on the play streets, Ed, where kids were trying to make something of themselves and stay out of trouble,” Gibson told Sullivan. “I felt like I accomplished a lot in that regard and I have so many people who are grateful to be in this position that I am now… as Wimbledon champion.
“It’s not all my fault, Ed. It’s thanks to the encouragement and good wishes of many people who accompanied me there to help me win this title and with the help of God Also.”
Gibson repeated his singles victory at Wimbledon in 1958 and at the US Open that year as well. Yet despite Gibson’s accomplishments, Sally Jacobs had not heard of her when it was suggested that Gibson become her next book subject.
“I had done a biography of Barack Obama’s father a few years before and I was looking for another subject and my boyfriend said how about Althea Gibson and I said who the hell is that,” said Jacobs. “So for me, it was really a long, fascinating, fascinating journey to find out who she was and what she did.
Gibson was born in Silver, South Carolina, about an hour southeast of Columbia. Jacobs went there several times to interview relatives and friends of the Gibson family. She also visited the land behind Silver’s only store, where Gibson was born.
Gibson left South Carolina at a young age for New York, where his family struggled to make a living. His father was a mechanic and tried to make Gibson a boxer. He also beat her often, causing Gibson to take the subway all night to avoid going home.
She eventually dropped out of school. Because of her superior athletic abilities in many sports, she attracted the attention of two black doctors, Robert Johnson of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Hubert Eaton of Wilmington, North Carolina. They both had tennis courts in their backyard and in addition to coaching Gibson and having her live with them half the year each as a family, they pushed her to finish her education. She later earned a degree from Florida A&M while playing, initially only with the Black American Tennis Association before breaking the color barrier in 1950 and being allowed to play in United States Lawn Tennis Association matches.
Gibson experienced racism in terms of accommodation, hecklers at matches and being turned away from tennis social events.
Despite the racial slurs and disparaging newspaper articles written about her, Gibson did not feel compelled to speak out against the blatant racism she experienced.
“I’m sure there were prejudices, but I guess I ignored them because I was so intense in my tennis that I didn’t even think about it and during those years I was antisocial and I didn’t care about going to the cocktails…it didn’t bother me,” Gibson said.
This attitude led her to have a love/hate relationship with the black press who praised her powerful play but criticized her for not speaking out against racism. Gibson said she did not want to take on the responsibility, although she later spoke about the discrimination she experienced.
Gibson retired from tennis in 1958 because there was not much money in it: Grand Slam tournaments, although prestigious, did not pay in those years. But his sporting career does not end there.
She was the first black woman admitted to the LGPA and played professional golf for several years, earning little money.
She also tried her hand at acting with a small role in a John Wayne film, “The Horse Soldiers” in 1959. She recorded an album, “Althea Gibson Sings” in 1958 and later became the New Jersey’s first female athletic commissioner. lost a bid for state Senate and tried her hand at various business ventures, with little success.
An article in Tennis Week in 1996 detailed Gibson’s financial and health difficulties. His fans responded, sending Gibson about $1 million, according to Jacobs.
Gibson’s legend faded over the years and it was only in 2019 that a statue of her was erected on the grounds of the US Open, 16 years after her death. But, as Jacobs notes, it sits in the shadow of two facilities named for people who came after him: Billy Jean King and Arthur Ashe.
“Ideally there would be more people who would recognize her… but time will tell,” Jacobs said.
