Althea Gibson

Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was a World No. 1 American sportswoman who became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1956. Gibson was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Althea Gibson

Gibson in 1956
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1927-08-25)August 25, 1927 Silver, Clarendon County, South Carolina, US
Died	September 28, 2003(2003-09-28) (aged 76) East Orange, New Jersey, US
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Retired	1958
Plays	Right-handed
Int. Tennis HoF	1971 (member page)
Singles
Career record	0–0
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)

Biography

Althea Gibson was born at 9:00 am EDT on August 25, 1927 in Silver, Clarendon County, South Carolina to Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson. Althea had two siblings, a brother, Daniel Jr. (known as "Bubba") and a sister, Mildred.

Gibson played tennis while going to school for an education. In 1946, she moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, to work on her tennis game with Dr. Hubert A. Eaton and enrolled at Williston High School.

In 1958, Gibson retired from amateur tennis. Before the open era of tennis began, there was no prize money, other than an expense allowance, and no endorsement contracts. To begin earning prize money, tennis players had to give up their amateur status. As there was no professional tour for women, Gibson was limited to playing in a series of exhibition tours.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Gibson was ranked in the world top ten from 1956 through 1958, reaching a career high of No. 1 in those rankings in 1957 and 1958. Gibson was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Tennis Association in 1952 and 1953 and from 1955 through 1958. She was the top-ranked U.S. player in 1957 and 1958. In 1957 Althea became the first African American woman to win Wimbledon. She won again in 1958. In 1958, she appeared as the celebrity challenger on the TV panel show "What's My Line?".

In retirement, Gibson wrote her autobiography and in 1959 recorded an album, Althea Gibson Sings, as well as appearing in the motion picture, The Horse Soldiers. In 1964, she became the first African American woman to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. However, she was too old to be successful and only played for a few years.

In 1971, Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 1975, she was appointed the New Jersey state commissioner of athletics. After 10 years on the job, she went on to work in other public service positions, including serving on the governor's council on physical fitness. In later years, she suffered two cerebral aneurysms and, in 1992, a stroke. A few years later, Gibson called her former doubles partner Angela Buxton and told her she was considering suicide, as she was living on welfare and unable to pay for rent or medication. Buxton arranged for a letter to appear in a tennis magazine. Buxton told Gibson nothing about the letter, but the latter received nearly US $1 million from around the world.

Gibson was married twice. Her first marriage to William Darben took place on October 17, 1965, but the couple was divorced in 1976, eleven years later. Darben died in 1995. She was also married to Sydney Llewellyn on April 11, 1983 and was divorced from him in 1988.

On September 28, 2003, at the age of 76, Gibson died in East Orange, New Jersey due to infections. She was buried there in the Rosedale Cemetery, at Orange, New Jersey.

On the opening night of the 2007 US Open, the 50th anniversary of Gibson's victory at the US Championships in 1957 (now the US Open), Gibson was inducted into US Open Court of Champions. She was a 1994 inductee of the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey and 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In September 2009, the City of Wilmington, NC named its new community tennis complex the Althea Gibson Tennis Center.

Golf

Gibson became the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, in 1964. Her best finish on the tour was a tie for second after a three-way playoff at the 1970 Len Immke Buick Open. Gibson retired from professional golf at the end of the 1978 season.

Grand Slam finals

Wins (5)

Althea Gibson's 1956 Wimbledon trophy, the first for an African American

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1956	French Championships	Angela Mortimer Barrett	6–0, 12–10
1957	Wimbledon	Darlene Hard	6–3, 6–2
1957	U.S. Championships	Louise Brough Clapp	6–3, 6–2
1958	Wimbledon (2)	Angela Mortimer Barrett	8–6, 6–2
1958	U.S. Championships (2)	Darlene Hard	3–6, 6–1, 6–2

Runner-up finishes (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1956	U.S. Championships	Shirley Fry Irvin	6–3, 6–4
1957	Australian Championships	Shirley Fry Irvin	6–3, 6–4

Women's and mixed doubles (11)

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	Event	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1956	French Championships	Women's doubles	Angela Buxton	Darlene Hard Dorothy Head Node	6–8, 8–6, 6–1
1956	Wimbledon	Women's doubles	Angela Buxton	Fay Muller Daphne Seeney	6–1, 8–6
1957	Australian Championships	Women's doubles	Shirley Fry Irvin	Mary Bevis Hawton Fay Muller	6–2, 6–1
1957	Wimbledon (2)	Women's doubles	Darlene Hard	Mary Bevis Hawton Thelma Coyne Long	6–1, 6–2
1957	U.S. Championships	Mixed doubles	Kurt Nielsen	Darlene Hard Bob Howe	6–3, 9–7
1958	Wimbledon (3)	Women's doubles	Maria Bueno	Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss	6–3, 7–5

Runners-up (5)

Year	Championship	Event	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1956	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Gardnar Mulloy	Shirley Fry Irvin Vic Seixas	2–6, 6–2, 7–5
1957	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Neil Fraser	Darlene Hard Mervyn Rose	6–4, 7–5
1957	U.S. Championships	Women's doubles	Darlene Hard	Louise Brough Clapp Margaret Osborne duPont	6–2, 7–5
1958	Wimbledon	Mixed doubles	Kurt Nielsen	Lorraine Coghlan Green Bob Howe	6–3, 13–11
1958	U.S. Championships	Women's doubles	Maria Bueno	Darlene Hard Jeanne Arth	2–6, 6–3, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	Career SR
Australia	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	0 / 1
France	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	A	A	1 / 1
Wimbledon	A	3R	A	A	A	A	QF	W	W	2 / 4
United States	2R	3R	3R	QF	1R	3R	F	W	W	2 / 9
SR	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	1 / 3	2 / 3	2 / 2	5 / 15

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Related pages

• Venus Williams
• Arthur Ashe

Other websites

• Althea Gibson.com
• International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
• Sports Illustrated obituary Archived 2003-12-07 at the Wayback Machine (dead link)
• United States Tennis Association Archived 2005-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Hickoksports.com Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine (a short biography)
• Althea Gibson - Women's History.about.com
• Althea Gibson Biography Archived 2014-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Althea Gibson Biography (Short)
• WTA Tour Archived 2008-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
• U.S. Open mixed doubles page
• Wimbledon women's doubles page Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Althea Gibson Tennis Center (Wilmington, NC) Archived 2010-10-14 at the Wayback Machine