Althea Gibson was born on Aug. 25, 1927 in Silver, South Carolina, part of Clarendon County. Gibson grew up in a family who worked as sharecroppers on a cotton farm. She was one of five children, having three sisters and a brother. From a young age, Gibson had a talent for paddle tennis and by age twelve she was the New York City's women's paddle tennis champion. A year later, she dropped out of school and began a life of '"street fighting", girls' basketball, and watching movies.
Gibson would later explain that she felt that tennis was actually a weak sport for weak people and every time she lost a match, she kept wanting to fight her competitor.
When she got back on track with tennis, Gibson won her first tournament with the American Tennis Association (AQTA). Gibson went on to win the ATA National Championship in the female division in 1944 and 1945.
In 1949, Gibson became the second African American athlete and first female African American to play in the USTA's National Indoor Championships. Gibson reached the quarter finals. Upon graduating from Florida A&M University, she became the first African American player to receive an invitation to the Nationals. Gibson, 23 at the time, lost in the second round.
In 1951, Gibson became one of the first African American Athlete to compete at Wimbledon. She was defeated in the third round. Ranked seventh nationally in 1952 by the USTA, she took a position as a Physical Education teacher at Lincoln University.
In 1956, she became the first African American athlete to win the grand slam tournament. The Grand Slam Tournament is part of the French Championship singles. That same year, Gibson went on to win the Wimbledon doubles championship along with Angela Buxton, the Italian Championship, the Indian Championship, and the Asian Championship, traveling from Rome to New Delhi and Cylon.
In 1957, Gibson won the singles at Wimbledon and was the first African American Champion in the tournament's eighty year history receiving her trophy from Queen Elizabeth II. In 1957 and 1958, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press because of her three Wimbeldon wins.
Gibson passed away in September of 2003. She left behind an amazing legacy for not only African American athletes, but all women athletes as well. Gibson was one of the first six inductees into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame along with being inducted into the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame, The Black Athletes Hall of Fame, and many more.
