The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : The First African American to Win Wimbledon

Today, we take for granted seeing such African American tennis champions as Venus and Serena Williams. But it took someone like Althea Gibson, who was the first African American to win the All-England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, on July 6, 1957, to pave the way for other blacks in tennis. Gibson, who was born in 1927 in South Carolina, grew up in the Harlem section of New York City. She began taking tennis lessons at 14. She struggled against segregation throughout her career; often she was denied entry into hotels and restaurants while on tour. Her perseverance made it possible for other African Americans, such as tennis great Arthur Ashe, to follow.

Althea Gibson, of New York, reaching high for shot during women's singles semifinal match against Christine Truman, of England, in All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, July 4, 1957

Portrait of Althea Gibson dressed in evening gown

Gibson's same strength of character and purpose was shared by other groundbreaking African American athletes, including Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics during the height of Hitler's propagation of Aryan "supremacy"; and Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947. You can read about the pioneering life of Jackie Robinson in "By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s - 1960s." Within the Robinson collection is the Special Presentation "Baseball, the Color Line and Jackie Robinson."

Photographs of Gibson are in "Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten, 1932-1964." If you search on Althea Gibson, you will find nine portraits.

You can see images of tennis through the centuries by searching on "tennis" in the following collections: "Washington as It Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959," "Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Co.," "America from the Great Depression to World War II," "Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991," "American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920," "Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America" and "History of the American West."

A. "[Althea Gibson, of New York, reaching high for shot during women's singles semifinal match against Christine Truman, of England, in All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, July 4, 1957]." New York World-Telegram and the Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-113282 DLC (b&w film copy neg.): Call No.: NYWTS - BIOG--Gibson, Althea--Tennis [item].

B. Carl Van Vechten, photographer. [Portrait of Althea Gibson dressed in evening gown], 1958. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-105579 DLC (b&w film copy neg.): Call No.: LOT 12735, no. 419.