Althea Gibson Quotes (Images)

Althea Gibson was born in the town of Silver in Clarendon County, South Carolina. She was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and the first black athlete of either gender to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956 she became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title. The following year she won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals, then won both again in 1958, and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including six doubles titles, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. In the early 1960s she also became the first black player to compete on the women's professional golf tour. She won the ATA national championship in the girls' division in 1944 and 1945, and after losing in the women's final in 1946, she won her first of ten straight national ATA women's titles in 1947.