Althea
The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson
By Sally H. Jacobs
August 15, 2023
Hardcover ◦ Audiobook ◦ E-Book
Elegantly written and meticulously researched, Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson is a biography of one of the greatest athletes America ever produced. A Black woman who emerged on the scene in the first half of the 20th century, Gibson endured enormous personal hardship and racial discrimination as she struggled to penetrate the elite sport of tennis. Jacobs, an award-winning journalist, tells a riveting and empathetic story of her life set against a backdrop of the turbulent civil rights developments of the time.
Starting with her enslaved ancestors, Jacobs closely follows Gibson from her birth in the swampy South Carolina backwoods to the churning sidewalks of Harlem in the 1930s and on to the lily-white tennis courts of Wimbledon and Forest Hills. It was a journey that only the fiercest and most determined athlete could accomplish. With the help of an army of Black supporters, Gibson did so, and became the first Black woman to be the Number One tennis player in the world, paving the way for Arthur Ashe, the Williams sisters and many others who would follow. And yet, largely denied the recognition she so very much deserved until only recently, Gibson faded into the pages of history and many today do not know her name.
Jacobs goes to great lengths to explain Gibson's refusal to be a political activist despite her champion status and the expectations of an at times critical Black community, as well as her rejection of the phrase “the Jackie Robinson of tennis” which was so often — and incorrectly — used to describe her. Gibson, she writes, “let her success. . . speak for her and for the potential of her race, rather than her raised fist.”
Critics have enthusiastically praised the book for its broad scope and rich detail. “Remarkable,” Herb Boyd, historian and biographer of Sugar Ray Robinson, puts it succinctly. “Jacobs aces this biography.”
Kirkus describes the book as “a fascinating study of Gibson through the prism of 20th century America.” In its enthusiastic review, Publishers Weekly concludes, “Thoroughly researched and movingly told, this warts-and-all portrayal of Gibson's life is a winner.”
Timeline
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One of five children, Althea and her parents moved to New York when she was two years old in part of the Great Migration north.
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Althea was the first Black player to compete in the US National Championships at Forest Hills. She lost to Louise Brough in a riveting three set match that was interrupted by a thunderstorm.
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Althea won the French Nationals, one of the four Grand Slam titles, when she defeated her long time British rival Angela Mortimer.
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After more than a decade of struggle, “the skinny girl from Harlem” as she was often described in the media, was named the No. One female tennis player in the world.
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After winning both the US National Championship and Wimbledon titles for a second time in 1958, Althea stunned her fans with the announcement that she was retiring from the sport. At the time, amateur tennis prohibited players from earning prize money and Althea was flat broke. In the years to come she would record a singing album, appear in a major motion picture and try her hand at a host of ventures but she never earned more than a subsistence income. She died impoverished.
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Now retired from the tennis circuit, Althea traveled across the country with the Harlem basketball team performing exhibition matches during half time.
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Althea becomes the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (L.P.G.A.). After playing at the Beaumont Country Club in Texas, where she had been prohibited from using the facilities or eating a meal because of her race, Althea won her L.P.G.A. player’s card.
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Darben, an aviation engineer, waited seven years for Althea to agree to marriage. They divorced a decade later.
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Althea was appointed to the post by Gov. Brendan Byrne, a tennis playing buddy. She resigned thirteen months later saying she was powerless in the post and did not want to be a “figurehead.”
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Dies from complications stemming from a urinary tract infection. Althea’s final years were difficult ones. In addition to chronic financial problems that plagued her, she struggled with ongoing health issues including two cerebral hemorrhages and a stroke. It would take many years before she received substantial public recognition.
Althea at age 17 in 1944. Photo: Bob Davis
Althea Gibson and her Cosmopolitan Club supporters on Aug. 30, 1950, the day she broke the color barrier in tennis.
Poised for a backhand in the summer of 1951 during her first European tournaments. The press commented often on her androgynous appearance. Photo: AFP
On July 6, 1957, Althea won both the Wimbledon women’s singles and doubles, the first Black person to do so. On that sweltering day, Queen Elizabeth II presented trophies to Althea and her opponent, Darlene Hard. Photo: Associated Press
Althea is feted by 100,000 New Yorkers attending a ticker-tape parade up Broadway on July 11, 1957. She was the second African American to receive such a tribute after Jesse Owens and the first woman of color to do so. Photo: Associated Press
Althea is swarmed by children in her Harlem neighborhood on her return from Wimbledon in 1957. Photo: Carl T. Gossett Jr., The New York Times: Redux
This poster was presented to Althea after she won the women’s singles at Wimbledon for the first time in 1957.
On the brink of defeating Darlene Hard at the US National Championships in New York, Sept. 7, 1958. Photo: Allyn Baum, The New York Times: Redux
The record “Althea Gibson Sings” was released by Dot Records in 1958. It did not do well. Photo: Cecil Williams
The Ward Baking Company hired Althea to promote its Tip Top bread and serve as a community relations representative in 1960. The job lasted five years. The New York Amsterdam News
Record-breaking athletes, Althea Gibson and Jackie Robinson, play in the 1962 North-South Tournament in Miami Springs. Althea would go on to be the first Black member of the LPGA. Photo: Associated Press
Lining up a putt at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts, in 1966. Photo: Bill Chaplis, Associated Press
More than fifteen years after she died, a sculpture of Althea was installed at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens in 2019. Photo: Jeenah Moo, The New York Times: Redux
Advance Praise
“A comprehensive and elegantly written life of Althea Gibson, one of the greatest athletes America has produced.”
“A captivating book that brilliantly reveals an American sports legend long overlooked. Sally Jacobs tells the riveting story of Althea Gibson … who overcame daunting odds – on the tennis court and off - to stand at the world pinnacle of her sport and became an inspiration to many.”
“Thoroughly researched and movingly told, this warts-and-all portrayal of Gibson’s life is a winner.”
“As an African American female tennis player who won the US Open 60 years after Althea won the US Nationals, I recognize the opportunities this sport has provided me thanks to the courageous life of Althea Gibson. I was captivated by this book and by the historical context of Althea’s achievements, her challenges, and ultimately her determination both on and off the court.”
“Jacobs smartly evokes the give and take between a budding tennis star and her historic community… Jacobs aces this biography.”
“Let this masterful account move others to aspire to greatness.”
“The reader surely will come away with the sober understanding of the societal barriers a young, Black woman faced trying to gain entrance into a white dominated sport. Althea is a marvelous achievement.”