Today in History: Althea Gibson & Tennis
Today in History–July 6–the Library of Congress features Althea Gibson, who won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon on this date in 1957. This tennis star fought hard against racism just for the right to compete. In addition to more Wimbledon singles and doubles titles, Gibson won U.S. Nationals titles as well as French and Italian Open titles. Find out more about this fantastic athlete in the Today in History section, then click the links below to access portraits of Althea Gibson and primary sources related to the sport of tennis.
Althea Gibson won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon from America’s Library
Althea Gibson Points the Way Picture This March 27, 2014
Althea Gibson historical newspaper coverage
Legislation related to Althea Gibson
Library blog posts
- Althea Gibson Points the Way
- Althea Gibson: Tennis Turmoil and Triumph
- Wonder Woman of Tennis . . . and More
- Something for Everyone in the Library’s Historic Photo Collections: Tennis
Tennis historical newspaper coverage
Periodical articles
- “Lawn Tennis” The Century; a popular quarterly Volume 23, Issue 4, Feb 1882
- “A Lesson in Tennis” poem from The Century; a popular quarterly Volume 30, Issue 4, Aug 1885
- “Form In Lawn Tennis” Scribner’s Magazine Volume 6, Issue 2, August, 1889
- “Court Tennis” Scribner’s Magazine Volume 9, Issue 1, January, 1891