Althea Gibson Thesis Statement

Althea Gibson

Chloe Oritz

Research A2

Ms. Jones

March 9th

This was a woman of many talents, who many found hard to not be amazed by. Althea Gibson was the first African American to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament, and continuously made history that has to this day, shocked the nation by breaking boundaries previously set for African Americans, regarding sports that many were too afraid to cross. Gibson was born on August 25th, 1927, in Silver, South California. Soon after her birth though, she and her family moved to the Harlem district in New York, by the year 1930. She unfortunately passed away on September 28th, of 2003, in East Orange, New Jersey; however, not before making a permanent impact on the regulations placed against black

Growing up, her parents, Annie Bell Gibson; and Daniel Gibson, struggled financially, therefore causing their family to bond in a way no rich, white family could ever understand. She had a brother, named Mildred Gibson, although there is very little information regarding her family; furthermore, they are rarely mentioned when speaking about her career, as they most likely wanted to be kept a part of her private life. She had two spouses in her lifetime, Will Darben (1965-1976) and Sydney Llewellyn (1983-1988). Gibson seemed to want to keep her life as private as possible, not wanting to stir up any unwanted events. This is similar to her uninterest in participating in marches, and riots that encouraged the growth of the African American community. It is mentioned several times that she prefers to partake in the uprising by strictly protesting regarding the sport she loves. Even so, she managed to change the course of history

Although there are definitely some that will always be more memorable than others. For example, she was [Associated Press Athlete of the Year] in 1957, and 1958, won 5 Grand Slam Tournaments, first ever African American to win the Wimbledon; additionally, she released a record album in 1959, and wrote 2 books titles “I Always Wanted to be Something” (Althea Gibson), and “Voices of All TIme Tennis Greats” (Althea Gibson, Dan Rudge, Bill Tildon). After a lifetime of achievements, including her 10 consecutive streak of ATA National Championships, she was rightfully inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, and had even an academy in East Orange New Jersey where she lived out the last of her days, named after her, the “Althea Gibson Academy”. Interestingly enough, there was one quote in particular, her own, that stuck with many, “In sports, you simply aren’t considered a champion until you have defended your title successfully. Winning it once can be a fluke, winning it twice proves you are the best.” All in all, Althea Gibson was an extraordinary , African American woman, who was not afraid of