Althea Gibson
Country (sports) | United States |
---|---|
Born | [1] Clarendon County, South Carolina, U.S. | August 25, 1927
Died | September 28, 2003 East Orange, New Jersey, U.S. | (aged 76)
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] |
Retired | 1958 |
Plays | Right-handed |
Int. Tennis HoF | 1971 (member page) |
Singles | |
Career record | 0–0 |
Career titles | 56[3] |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (1957) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | F (1957) |
French Open | W (1956) |
Wimbledon | W (1957, 1958) |
US Open | W (1957, 1958) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 0–0 |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (1957) |
French Open | W (1956) |
Wimbledon | W (1956, 1957, 1958) |
US Open | F (1957, 1958) |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
Australian Open | SF (1957) |
French Open | QF (1956) |
Wimbledon | F (1956, 1957, 1958) |
US Open | W (1957) |
Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was an American
At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to
Early life and education
The loser is always a part of the problem; the winner is always a part of the answer. The loser always has an excuse; the winner always has a program. The loser says it may be possible, but it's difficult; the winner says it may be difficult, but it's possible.
—Althea Gibson, 1991[9]
Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in the town of Silver, in
In 1940 a group of Gibson's neighbors took up a collection to finance a junior membership and lessons at the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. At first, Gibson didn't like tennis, a sport she thought was for weak people. As she explained, "I kept wanting to fight the other player every time I started to lose a match."[17] In 1941 she entered—and won—her first tournament, the American Tennis Association (ATA) New York State Championship.[18] She won the ATA national championship in the girls' division in 1944 and 1945, and after losing in the women's final in 1946, won her first of ten straight national ATA women's titles in 1947.[19] "I knew that I was an unusual, talented girl, through the grace of God," she wrote. "I didn't need to prove that to myself. I only wanted to prove it to my opponents."[20]
Gibson's ATA success drew the attention of
Career
Despite her growing reputation as an elite-level player, Gibson was effectively barred from entering the premier American tournament, the United States National Championships (now the
In 1951 Gibson won her first international title, the Caribbean Championships in Jamaica,
On May 27, 1956,
The 1957 season was, in her own words, "Althea Gibson's year".
In 1958, Gibson successfully defended her Wimbledon and US National singles titles, and won her third straight Wimbledon doubles championship, with a third different partner. She was the number-one-ranked woman in the world[54] and in the United States[55] in both 1957 and 1958, and was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years, garnering over 80% of the votes in 1958.[56] She also became the first Black woman to appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated[57] and Time.[58]
Professional career
In late 1958, having won 56 national and international singles and doubles titles, Gibson retired from amateur tennis. Prior to the
During this period, Gibson also pursued her long-held aspirations in the entertainment industry. A talented vocalist and saxophonist—and runner-up in the
Her professional tennis career, however, was going nowhere. "When I looked around me, I saw that white tennis players, some of whom I had thrashed on the court, were picking up offers and invitations", she wrote. "Suddenly it dawned on me that my triumphs had not destroyed the racial barriers once and for all, as I had—perhaps naively—hoped. Or if I did destroy them, they had been erected behind me again."
In 1964, at the age of 37, Gibson became the first African-American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour.[70] Racial discrimination continued to be a problem: Many hotels still excluded people of color, and country club officials throughout the south—and some in the north—routinely refused to allow her to compete. When she did compete, she was often forced to dress for tournaments in her car because she was banned from the clubhouse.[71] Although she was one of the LPGA's top 50 money winners for five years, and won a car at a Dinah Shore tournament, her lifetime golf earnings never exceeded $25,000.[72]
While she broke course records during individual rounds in several tournaments, Gibson's highest ranking was 27th in 1966, and her best tournament finish was a tie for second after a three-way playoff at the 1970
Post-retirement
In 1959, shortly after retiring, Gibson appeared in the John Ford film, The Horse Soldiers, playing the secondary, but pivotal, role of Lukey,[76] the housekeeper (and slave) to Miss Hannah Hunter, mistress of Greenbriar Plantation. Lukey's dialog was originally written in "Negro" dialect that Gibson found offensive. She informed Ford that she would not deliver her lines as written. Though Ford was notorious for his intolerance of actors' demands,[77] he agreed to modify the script.[78]
In 1968, with the advent of the Open Era, Gibson began entering major tennis tournaments again; but by then—in her forties—she was unable to compete effectively against younger players.[79]
In 1972 Gibson began running Pepsi Cola's national mobile tennis project, which brought portable nets and other equipment to underprivileged areas in major cities.[80] She ran multiple other clinics and tennis outreach programs over the next three decades, and coached numerous rising competitors, including Leslie Allen and Zina Garrison. "She pushed me as if I were a pro, not a junior", wrote Garrison in her 2001 memoir. "I owe the opportunity I received to her."[81]
In the early 1970s, Gibson began directing women's sports and recreation for the Essex County Parks Commission in New Jersey. In 1976 she was appointed New Jersey's athletic commissioner, the first woman in the country to hold such a role, but resigned after one year due to lack of autonomy, budgetary oversight, and adequate funding. "I don't wish to be a figurehead", she said.[82]
In 1976 Gibson made it to the finals of the ABC television program Superstars, finishing first in basketball shooting and bowling, and runner-up in softball throwing.[83]
In 1977 Gibson challenged incumbent Essex County State Senator Frank J. Dodd in the Democratic primary for his seat.[84] She came in second behind Dodd, but ahead of Assemblyman Eldridge Hawkins. Gibson went on to manage the Department of Recreation in East Orange, New Jersey. She also served on the State Athletic Control Board and became supervisor of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.[85]
Gibson attempted a golf comeback, in 1987 at age 60, with the goal of becoming the oldest active tour player, but was unable to regain her tour card.[86] In a second memoir, So Much to Live For, she articulated her disappointments, including unfulfilled aspirations, the paucity of endorsements and other professional opportunities, and the many obstacles of all sorts that were thrown in her path over the years.[87]
Personal life and final years
Gibson married William Darben in 1965, and divorced him in 1976.[88] In 1983 she married Sydney Llewellyn, her coach during her peak tennis years. That marriage also ended in divorce. She had no children.[89]
In the late 1980s Gibson suffered two
Gibson survived a
Legacy
It was 15 years until another non-White woman—
A decade after Gibson's last triumph at the US Nationals, Arthur Ashe became the first African-American man to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1968 US Open. Billie Jean King said, "If it hadn't been for [Althea], it wouldn't have been so easy for Arthur, or the ones who followed."[95]
In 1980 Gibson became one of the first six inductees into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame, placing her on par with such pioneers as Amelia Earhart, Wilma Rudolph, Gertrude Ederle, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and Patty Berg.[96] Other inductions included the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hall of Fame, the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, and the National Women's Hall of Fame.[97] She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1988.[98]
In 1991 Gibson became the first woman to receive the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the highest honor from the National Collegiate Athletic Association; she was cited for "symbolizing the best qualities of competitive excellence and good sportsmanship, and for her significant contributions to expanding opportunities for women and minorities through sports."[99] Sports Illustrated for Women named her to its list of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes".[100]
In a 1977 historical analysis of women in sports, The New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden wrote,
Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph are, without question, the most significant athletic forces among Black women in sports history. While Rudolph's accomplishments brought more visibility to women as athletes ... Althea's accomplishments were more revolutionary because of the psychosocial impact on Black America. Even to those Blacks who hadn't the slightest idea of where or what Wimbledon was, her victory, like Jackie Robinson's in baseball and Jack Johnson's in boxing, proved again that Blacks, when given an opportunity, could compete at any level in American society.[101]
On opening night of the 2007 US Open, the 50th anniversary of her first victory at its predecessor, the US National Championships, Gibson was inducted into the US Open Court of Champions.[102][103] "It was the quiet dignity with which Althea carried herself during the turbulent days of the 1950s that was truly remarkable," said USTA president Alan Schwartz, at the ceremony:
[Her] legacy ... lives on, not only in the stadiums of professional tournaments, but also in schools and parks throughout the nation. Every time a Black child or a Hispanic child or an Islamic child picks up a tennis racket for the first time, Althea touches another life. When she began playing, less than five percent of tennis newcomers were minorities. Today, some 30 percent are minorities, two-thirds of whom are African American. This is her legacy.[104]
Gibson's five Wimbledon trophies are displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.[105] The Althea Gibson Cup seniors tournament is held annually in Croatia, under the auspices of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).[106] The Althea Gibson Foundation identifies and supports gifted golf and tennis players who live in urban environments.[107] In 2005 Gibson's friend Bill Cosby endowed the Althea Gibson Scholarship at her alma mater, Florida A&M University.[108]
In September 2009, Wilmington, North Carolina, named its new community tennis court facility the Althea Gibson Tennis Complex at Empie Park.[109] Other tennis facilities named in her honor include those at Manning High School (near her birthplace in Silver, South Carolina),[110] the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina.[111] and Florida A&M University.[112]
In 2012 a
In August 2013, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Gibson, the 36th in its Black Heritage series.[116][117] A documentary titled Althea, produced for the American Masters Series on PBS, premiered in September 2015.[118]
In November 2017, the Council of Paris inaugurated the Gymnase Althea Gibson, a public multisport gymnasium in the 12th arrondissement of Paris.[119]
In 2018, the USTA unanimously voted to erect a statue honoring Gibson at Flushing Meadows, site of the US Open.[120] The statue, created by sculptor Eric Goulder and unveiled in 2019,[121] is only the second Flushing Meadows monument erected in honor of a champion.[17] "Althea reoriented the world and changed our perceptions of what is possible," said Goulder. "We are still struggling. But she broke the ground."[17]
"I hope that I have accomplished just one thing", she said, in her 1958 retirement speech, "that I have been a credit to tennis, and to my country."[122] "By all measures," reads the inscription on her Newark statue, "Althea Gibson certainly attained that goal."[123]
Gibson will be honored on a U.S. quarter in 2025 as part of the final year of the American Women quarters program.[124]
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1956 | French Championships | Clay | Angela Mortimer | 6–0, 12–10 | [125] |
Loss | 1956 | US Championships | Grass | Shirley Fry | 3–6, 4–6 | [126] |
Loss | 1957 | Australian Championships | Grass | Shirley Fry | 3–6, 4–6 | [127] |
Win | 1957 | Wimbledon |
Grass | Darlene Hard | 6–3, 6–2 | [128] |
Win | 1957 | US Championships | Grass | Louise Brough | 6–3, 6–2 | [126] |
Win | 1958 | Wimbledon (2) |
Grass | Angela Mortimer | 8–6, 6–2 | [129] |
Win | 1958 | US Championships (2) | Grass | Darlene Hard | 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 | [126] |
Key: (#) denotes her number of singles titles at the tournament at the time.
Doubles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1956 | French Championships | Clay | Angela Buxton | Darlene Hard Dorothy Head Knode |
6–8, 8–6, 6–1 | [27] |
Win | 1956 | Wimbledon |
Grass | Angela Buxton | Fay Muller Daphne Seeney |
6–1, 8–6 | [130] |
Win | 1957 | Australian Championships | Grass | Shirley Fry | 6–2, 6–1 | [131] | |
Win | 1957 | Wimbledon (2) |
Grass | Darlene Hard | 6–1, 6–2 | [132] | |
Loss | 1957 | US Championships | Grass | Darlene Hard | 2–6, 5–7 | [133] | |
Win | 1958 | Wimbledon (3) |
Grass | Maria Bueno | Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss |
6–3, 7–5 | [134] |
Loss | 1958 | US Championships | Grass | Maria Bueno | Darlene Hard Jeanne Arth |
6–2, 3–6, 4–6 | [133] |
Key: (#) denotes her number of doubles titles at the tournament at the time.
Mixed doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1956 | Wimbledon |
Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Shirley Fry Vic Seixas |
6–2, 2–6, 5–7 | [135] |
Loss | 1957 | Wimbledon |
Grass | Neale Fraser | Darlene Hard Mervyn Rose |
4–6, 5–7 | [136] |
Win | 1957 | US Championships | Grass | Kurt Nielsen | Darlene Hard Robert Howe |
6–3, 9–7 | [137] |
Loss | 1958 | Wimbledon |
Grass | Kurt Nielsen | Lorraine Coghlan Robert Howe |
3–6, 11–13 | [138] |
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | SR | W–L | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | F | A | 0 / 1 | 4–1 | 80% |
French Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | W | A | A | 1 / 1 | 6–0 | 100% |
Wimbledon Championships
|
A | 3R | A | A | A | A | QF | W | W | 2 / 4 | 17–2 | 89% |
US Championships | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 1R | 3R | F | W | W | 2 / 9 | 27–7 | 79% |
Win–loss | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 15–2 | 16–1 | 12–0 | 5 / 15 | 54–10 | 84% |
Source:[31]
See also
- List of African American firsts
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
References
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- ^ A&E Television Networks (2014)
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- ^ a b Robert McG. Thomas Jr. (September 29, 2003). "An Unlikely Champion". The New York Times.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 188.
- ^ Lewis, Jone Johnson. Women's History. About.com archive Archived September 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 176.
- ^ "Black tennis pioneer Althea Gibson dies at 76". ESPN. September 28, 2003.
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- ^ "That Gibson Girl." Time, August 26, 1957, p. 45.
- ^ Osofsky, G: Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto: Negro New York, 1890–1930. New York: Harper & Row, 1963, p. 129.
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- ^ Hubert A. Eaton. nhcs.net archive Archived October 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 18, 2013.
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- ^ Becque, Fran (January 15, 2016). "Althea Gibson on Alpha Kappa Alpha's Founding Day". franbecque.com. Alpha Kappa Alpha. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c Henderson, Jon; O'Donnell, Matthew (July 8, 2001). "Triumphing over prejudice". The Guardian. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "We can accept the evasions", Marble wrote, "or we can face the issue squarely and honestly ... It so happens that I tan very easily in the summer—but I doubt that anyone ever questioned my right to play in the Nationals because of it." Let Us Remember Alice Marble, the Catalyst for Althea Gibson to Break the Color Barrier. Huffington Post (August 30, 2007), retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ "Black History Month Legends: Althea Gibson". United States Tennis Association. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
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- ^ Rodney, L: "On the Scoreboard: Miss Gibson Plays at Forest Hills". The Daily Worker, August 24, 1950.
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- ^ "Althea Gibson Wins French Singles Title". The Kingston Whig-Standard. May 27, 1956. p. 12 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Tingay, L: "Miss Gibson Worthy Champion; Miss Buxton Shares Doubles Win". London Daily Express, May 25, 1956.
- ^ "Althea Gibson's Net Stock Zooms Higher", Pittsburgh Courier, June 16, 1956.
- ^ Gibson 1958, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Gibson 1958, p. 126.
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- ^ "Miss Gibson Wins Wimbledon Title". The New York Times, July 7, 1957.
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- ^ "Her Finest Hour". Newsweek, July 22, 1957.
- ^ "Althea's Dream is Complete: 3rd Crown Won". The Daily Worker, September 9, 1957.
- ^ Gibson 1958, p. 145.
- ^ Harrison, E: "Althea, Pride of One West Side, Becomes the Queen of Another". The New York Times, September 9, 1957.
- ^ "Althea Gibson at Tennis Abstract". Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-942257-41-0.
- ^ United States Tennis Association (1988). 1988 Official USTA Tennis Yearbook. Lynn, Massachusetts: H.O. Zimman, Inc. p. 261.
- ^ "Althea Gibson Voted Top Woman Athlete". Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 1958.
- ^ Sports Illustrated, September 2, 1957. Volume 7, Issue 10. SI archive. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ Time, August 26, 1957. Time.com archive. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
- ^ Gibson & Curtis 1968, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 131–132.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 132–134.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 112.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 114.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 114–117.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 123.
- ^ Gibson A., Fitzgerald E., I Always Wanted to Be Somebody (1960), New York: Harper & Brothers. ASIN B0007G5SL8
- ^ Gibson & Curtis 1968, p. 76.
- ^ "British tennis champ says she was denied club membership due to anti-Semitism". JTA. July 14, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ Honoring Pioneers – Althea Gibson
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 154.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 137–161.
- ^ "Historical stats for Althea Gibson in the Borden Classic". GOLFstats.com.
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- ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052902/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_3_act
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- ISBN 1583940146
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- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 167.
- ^ Edge, Wally (January 7, 2008). "The one that starts in the 1960s and ends with Codey". PolitickerNJ. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
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- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Gibson A., Curtis R., So Much to Live For. New York, Putnam (1968). ASIN: B0006BVL5Q
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 169–170.
- ^ Schoenfeld 2005, pp. 220–224.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (October 10, 2003). "Celebrity Jews in the News". JWeekly. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 171, 210.
- ^ Vecsey, George (September 29, 2003). "Sport of the times; Gibson deserved a better old age". The New York Times.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 191.
- ^ Schwartz, Larry. "Althea Gibson broke barriers". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ "International Women's Sports Hall of Fame". Womenssportsfoundation.org. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, pp. 182, 203.
- ^ "Candace ward recipients 1982–1990, Page 1". National Coalition of 100 Black Women. Archived from the original on March 14, 2003.
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- ^ "100 Greatest Female Athletes. 30. Althea Gibson, Tennis". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Rhoden, WT: "A Fruitful Past but a Shaky Future". Ebony, Vol. 32, No. 10, August 1977, pp. 60–64.
- ^ "USTA To Honor Althea Gibson on Opening Night of US Open". United States Tennis Association. August 15, 2007. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ^ Dillman, Lisa (August 27, 2007). "Williams sisters part of Gibson tribute". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
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- ^ ITF Super-Seniors Althea Gibson Cup. ITFTennis.com Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ The Althea Gibson Foundation. AltheaGibson.com Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ The Althea Gibson Endowed Scholarship. FAMU.edu. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ^ Althea Gibson Tennis Complex at Empie Park. WilmingtonNC.gov Archived April 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 4, 2013.
- ^ Jones, D. (April 30, 2002): Serving Up an Honor: Manning Tennis Complex Named for Althea Gibson. Google News archive. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ^ Family Circle Tennis Center Archived June 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ^ Gray & Lamb 2004, p. 203.
- ^ "Branch Brook Park Athletics". Branch Brook Park. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Eunice Lee, "Statue of first Black woman to win Wimbledon unveiled in Newark park", NJ.com, March 29, 2012.
- ^ Althea Gibson Statue, Newark, NJ. warrensculpture.com Archived February 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ISSN 0161-6234.
- ^ "Althea Gibson Stamps – The Postal Store @ USPS.com". Store.usps.com. March 28, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ "Althea", American Masters Series, PBS.org, retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ Bouchez, Yann (November 10, 2016). "A Althea Gibson, Paris reconnaissant". Le Monde (in French).
- ^ Statue of Tennis Legend Althea Gibson Planned for US Open (February 27, 2018). New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ^ "Controversy erupts over tennis great's US Open statue". au.sports.yahoo.com. August 26, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ^ Gibson & Curtis 1968, p. 27.
- ^ Bronze statue of civil rights pioneer Althea Gibson dedicated in Essex County (March 28, 2012). Independent Press archive. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ^ "United States Mint Announces 2025 American Women Quarters™ Program Coins". United States Mint. October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
- ^ "Roland-Garros 1956 (Grand Slam) – Women singles" (PDF). Fédération Française de Tennis. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Women's Singles Champions 1887–2017". US Open. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "Women's Singles Honour Roll". Australian Open. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1957 Ladies' Singles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1958 Ladies' Singles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1956 Ladies' Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Women's Doubles Honour Roll". Australian Open. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1957 Ladies' Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ a b "Women's Doubles Champions 1889–2017". US Open. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1958 Ladies' Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1956 Mixed Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1957 Mixed Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Mixed Doubles Champions 1892–2017". US Open. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "The Championships 1958 Mixed Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
Further reading
- Lansbury, Jennifer. A spectacular leap: black women athletes in twentieth-century America. University of Arkansas Press, 2014, Fayetteville. ISBN 9781557286581.
Bibliography
- Gibson, Althea (1958). Fitzgerald, E. (ed.). I Always Wanted to Be Somebody (Hardcover ed.). New York: Harper & Brothers. ISBN 0060115157.
- Gibson, Althea; Curtis, Richard (1968). So Much to Live For (Hardcover ed.). New York: Putnam. ASIN B0006BVL5Q.
- Gray, Frances Clayton; Lamb, Yanick Rice (2004). Born to Win: The Authorized Biography of Althea Gibson (Hardcover ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471471653.
- Schoenfeld, Bruce (2005). The Match: Althea Gibson & Angela Buxton: How Two Outsiders—One Black, the Other Jewish—Forged a Friendship and Made Sports History (Paperback ed.). New York: Harper. ISBN 006052653X.
- Brown, Ashley (2023). Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197551752.
External links
- Althea Gibson at the International Tennis Federation
- Althea Gibson at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Althea Gibson at IMDb
- Althea Gibson at Find a Grave