They named one stadium after Louis Armstrong at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Why didn't they name it after Althea? Armstrong was a muscisian of great talent and a very beloved man, but what's his connection with tennis that put his name on the stadium instead of a multiple Grand Slam champion? Just wondering.
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Didn’t I read 3 days ago that the Williams sisters were the greatest trailblazers ever. Where did I read that?
1
Great! Maybe Wyomia Tyus will be next in receiving some fragment of her proper due.
Dropped out of school to devote herself to street fighting? Wow. You don’t read that everyday. Thank goodness she took up tennis.
4
What a beautiful statue!
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Better late than never.
But awful doggone late to acknowledging her humanity and talent.
Althea Gibson was long recognized,
honored and remembered in black African American local, state and national mass media.
A legacy of separate and unequal inhumane hateful American history.
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Althea deserves every honor now being afforded her. Too bad they are coming so late.
8
How heartbreaking to read what people were yelling at her from the stands. And I thought we were making progress until Trump came along. And then we learned that all that ugliness was just boiling beneath the surface of America.
6
Althea Gibson was like Paul Robeson. Both multi-talented people who personally sacrificed and their achievements virtually buried in history.
Althea Gibson was a tennis star, golfer, performer and community participant.
Paul Robeson whose legacy is storied, now, was an athlete, lawyer, actor, virtuoso singer and advocate.
Both shared the fate of having their accomplishments negated by others who were blinded by visions of their own superiority.
I think for Althea carrying her own load and the weight of representing the race was too much. I understand.
7
Reparations don't have to come in the form of money. In some cases, recognition of achievement is enough.
3
@Curtis M,
Reparations DOES have to come in the form of money. We can't eat "recognition of achievement," and the great wealth that African-Americans created for this country can never be paid back in "recognition."
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Please don’t try to diminish her legacy by bringing up reparations. This is not the time nor the place.
2
Ms Gibson spoke at one of my "end of season" college athletic dinners. She was the guest of honor and after her talk, all the athletes, male and female, were called to the stage to receive their participation acknowlement. Ms Gibson only congratulated the female athletes. Totally ingoring the men who were called to the stage. I've never forgotten that, and all that she achieved in her career was lessened by her behavior that night.
5
That was unfortunate but could you mention the college event and the year that it happened. She is not around to defend herself but I don’t want you to think that I am doubting your story. If you remember the story I think that you should tell the whole story.
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And didn't she receive a ticker tape parade? Was that not a recognition of her achievement? She wasn't unjustly ignored altogether, give credit where credit is due.!
One day I was watching a John Ford Civil War movie, 'The Horse Soldiers'. Although there were many big stars in the movie, like John Wayne and William Holden, I was struck by the presence of Althea Gibson, who had a small part but made a big impression on me. I'd never heard of her, but then learned about her tennis career. So glad to hear that she is getting the attention she deserves, albeit belatedly.
6
My son was at a tennis center in New Jersey when I saw a 60 something Althea Gibson giving a young person a tennis lesson. I was awestruck by her balletic movements and her incredible grace. I had never seen anyone place tennis that well, and I had seen many, many professionals. When she came off the court, I asked her if she would give my son a lesson. “My fee is $100.00” she said. I knew she named that price just to deter me, but I enthusiastically agreed to her astonishment. I watched her coach my son for an hour, and it was the best $100.00 I have ever spent.
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@Sandra Didner
Tacky gesture.
2
Why has it taken the NYT this long to honor Althea Gibson?
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So is that an excuse for the NYT not to honor Althea Gibson because the US Open hasn’t done this in the past?
At last!
6
I'm reading (surreptitiously of course) this at work and I find myself getting all choked up so I'm going to post this and finish the article later on during my lunch break.
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I will be shocked if this is accepted let a lone well received.
The cover photo of this article is Mrs. Gibson enjoying her ticker tape parade. Somehow having a ticker tape parade is not getting your due, but getting a measly statue is?????????
There a lot of people with statues who have never had a parade.
I swear half of these articles feel like the conclusion was written before the research even was even peformed....
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@Silly | The ticker tape parade comes and goes. Who remembers it? It has no trace. A statue will last a long time, and some who see will perhaps be moved to learn something about who is represented. So the statue is by no means "measly."
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If I could go back in time and see only two players, those players would be Pancho Gonzales and Althea Gibson.
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I'm happy to read this story and appreciate that it brings Althea Gibson into the worlds of some of today's young people. However …
However, the headline. Gets her due at last? I see photos of Althea being greeted by the queen of England, of her holding a trophy in front of thousands of fans, of her riding down Fifth Avenue being showered by confetti. I would say she had some "due" long ago.
They loved her then; people didn't just wake up in 2019 and discover Althea Gibson. Well, your headline writer did, but still....
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@jr Lots of players are honored long after their playing days are over. Althea Gibson was barely mentioned.
8
It's a beautiful monument and so deserved. The subtle and not so subtle racism and sexism of our country would absolutely and grudgingly find a way to recognize Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe and out of the other side of their mouths whisper that the great Althea Gibson could then be ignored. Not any more you good ol' boys. Not any more.
6
At long last! Congratulations long over due!
3
Most don't realize how monumental Althea's achievements were, when even just finding a place where someone black would be allowed to practice was very difficult, and while her poverty was a serious obstacle to buying tennis equipment, paying for court time, travel expenses, and decent nutrition.
34
In the late '50s Althea Gibson played an exhibition match in San Leandro, California. My younger sister and I, junior high age tennis students, were chosen as two of the ball girls. I forget who she was playing, but we were for Althea.
My sister had a way of rushing in that sometimes got her in trouble. On this occasion as Gibson was serving, but sister said, all too audibly, "oh Althea, don't foot fault." "I won't," replied Althea Gibson.
13
Seeing the name of Althea Gibson brings to mind the whole decade of the 50s, when I passed from 7-17. Witnessing our nation move from the McCarthy era, the lynching of Emmett Till, the cross-burnings in suburban Long Island to the rise of heros black and white, Jewish and Christian to reset the agenda for the coming decade was thrilling. That we were bound to slide backward never occured to me. Now I fight hard to hold on to my optimism during this dark period of our nation's history. I will take my grandchildren to see the movie.
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A legend! --This is such wonderful news and so long overdue.
Althea Gibson deserves every tribute finally coming her way and hopefully she will now be recognized by more than just those in the tennis community.
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@notsofast
Just what "cocktail" are you talking about?
Let's get something clear.
I happen to be Black and learned about the accomplishments of Althea Gibson and other pioneers of color years ago before it became a matter of being "woke".
And if there is a BIG mistake -- it's yours.
2
@N. Smith
I think notsofast accidentally replied to your post when he intended to reply to the one from Oliver just a bit down the page. If you check for it you may feel a better
I think a movie about Althea and Angela Buxton would be awesome to see! During these times especially, we need to see how people from different communities can come together and work for the common good, our humanity.
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@Jay D
Yeah, that would be great movie! Really.
2
@Jay D
There's a book about their bond, "The Match".
4
Such a pity that a true pioneer and great champion like Gibson had to live in obscurity and poverty in her later years. Good to see her achievements recognised at the US Open, albeit belatedly.
15
I am White but I remember as a teenager Althea Gibson winning Wimbledon in 1957. It was hailed as an epic achievement (at least in Los Angeles where I was living) and was a step in the emerging civil rights movement (even though it wasn't called that at the time).
It is sad that she has not been honored until now in the U.S. A tennis stadium should be named after her as well as a championship. This woman has long deserved her due.
28
Long overdue. With this honor and the upcoming films, people will now who she was and how monumental her accomplishments in tennis were. She was reluctant to get credit for the breaking the "color barrier" in tennis, but she did AND was a champion!
20
I remember when Zina Garrison was in the 1990 Wimbledon final, and Althea Gibson came from New Jersey to watch her play. It was quite emotional because it was during that time when Althea wasn’t feeling well, but the powers that be convinced her to come, bought her a plane ticket and got her on the plane. Seeing Arthur Ashe, Althea and Zina all at Wimbledon together, celebrating Zina, made me think “yes, things are going to change soon!” And sure enough, ten years later Venus Williams won Wimbledon.
47
My mother would be very happy about this. As an artist she frequented the jazz clubs of Harlem in the 1950s. She was a very equality minded and integrated soul. Some 30 years ago I made her a martini but was out of green olives so offered her a black olive. She said "sure! That's an 'Althea Gibson'... or what they used to call it". The name and story of Althea Gibson have stuck with me ever since -- she's always been a real hero to me even if she didn't wear it on her sleeve.
In addition to this wonderfully deserved sculpture I hope that we can also pay tribute to Althea by bringing back the cocktail that wore her name even if likely for less honorable reasons...
13
Finally recognition where it is due. She paved the way for so many. Thank you Althea Gibson!
33
At long last, a beautiful sculpture honoring a beautiful soul. Finally! All hail Althea! And glad that the courageous Angela Buxton will be present for this long overdue tribute.
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