Althea Gibson Tennis Courts and Statue of Althea Gibson
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Dedicated in 2012, this statue honors Althea Gibson, who became the first African American to break the color barrier in any major international tennis competition. The statue was part of a million-dollar project to expand the twenty public tennis courts that are part of the Essex County Althea Gibson Tennis Center. One of the greatest American tennis players of the mid-20th century, Althea Gibson also became an outspoken advocate of equality and supported the American Civil Rights Movement. Gibson was also the first African American to win a Grand Slam. Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles and was inducted into both the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Images
This statue in Branch Brook Park was dedicated in 2002
Althea Gibson died nearly penniless in 2003 but historians have recently published works that have led to a rediscovery of the tennis pioneer.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Althea Gibson's love for sports started at a young age in Harlem, after her family moved there from Silver, South Carolina. She played table tennis before picking up tennis, and the transition came naturally to her as she won an American Tennis Association title after only playing for a year in 1942. Gibson won that title in 1944 and 1945 and then went on a ten-title winning streak from 1947-1956. In the midst of the streak, she competed in both the U.S. National Championships and the Wimbleton, officially making her the first African American of either gender to break the color barrier in international tennis.
Gibson attended Florida A&M University with a scholarship and won the French Open in 1956, becoming the first African American to win that tournament. She also won multiple Grand Slam titles by winning the United States Open and Wimbledon in the 1950s. In 1957, Gibson became the first African American to be named as the Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press. In the 1970s and 1980s, Gibson organized tennis clinics for youth and served as the New Jersey Commissioner of Athletics.
Cite This Entry
Davidson, Matthew and Clio Admin. "Althea Gibson Tennis Courts and Statue of Althea Gibson." Clio: Your Guide to History. July 6, 2023. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/5786
Sources
Althea Neale Gibson. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 02:24, Jun 29, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/althea-gibson-9310580.
Independent Press. Bronze statue of civil rights pioneer Althea Gibson dedicated in Essex County, NJ.com. May 28th, 2012. Accessed July 6th, 2023. https://www.nj.com/independentpress/2012/03/bronze_statue_of_civil_rights.html.