Althea Gibson

875 Words2 Pages

Althea Gibson

As we look at our past, we are better able to see the

positive advances that we have made. One of the greatest

obsticles that we have overcome is the barrier of race.

Over the last several decades African Americans have had a

huge impact on many areas of society such as politics,

educatoin and most definately athletics.

On August 27, 1927, Althea Gibson was born. She did

not enter the world to a life of glamor. From the

beginning, her life was a tough one. Her family resided in

Harlem during the 1930’s and 40;s. Times were very

difficult for the young girl. Her family was on welfare and

she, herself was a client of the society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Children. Because of home life traumas,

Althea frequently skipped school. The times that she did

go, she struggled though the day. While she was growing up,

she also ran away from home numerous times. As any young

child would do, Althea searched for an outlet from the

everyday hardships of school and home life. This is where

she discovered tennis.

It all began at local recreation programs where she

took up table tennis, or ping pong. Althea had talent right

from the beginning. She realized that she, a girl who’s

life had been nothing but rough roads and abrupt turns,

could be good at something. As she continued to gain

interest as well as perfect her table tennis skills, Althea

began to compete, and win several local tournaments.

Because of these victories,Althea began to get noticed. One

man, a musician by the name of Buddy Walker, saw Althea play

one day and had a revolation. He figured that if Althea was

so good at table tennis, then she would excel in regular

tennis as well. At the time, no one realized just how

beneficial this idea would be for the young Harlem girl,

Althea Gibson.

Through donations raised to pay for her membership and

lessons, Althea became a member of an African American club

called the Harlem Cosmopolitian Tennis Club. It was here

that she aquired the skills needed to compete in tennis

matches at a higher, more competative level. At the time

that Althea was emerging as a recognized tennis player,

African American’s opportunities were somewhat limitied.

One organization called the American Tennis Association

provided tounament opportunities for African American tennis

players. In 1942, Althea Gibson had her first landmark

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