[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 69 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 69


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2003

        Received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of Congress that Althea Gibson should be 
 recognized for her ground breaking achievements in athletics and her 
  commitment to ending racial discrimination and prejudice within the 
                            world of sports.

Whereas Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, and lived with her family in 
        Harlem during the 1930's and 1940's;
Whereas Althea Gibson was first introduced to tennis on the Harlem River Tennis 
        Courts and went on to dominate the all-black American Tennis Association 
        tournaments throughout the early 1940's, when racism and segregation 
        prevented her from participating in tournaments sponsored by the 
        American Lawn Tennis Association;
Whereas Althea Gibson graduated from Florida A&M University in 1953, and was an 
        athletic instructor at the Lincoln University in Jefferson City, 
        Missouri;
Whereas Althea Gibson was the first African-American player, either male or 
        female, to be allowed to enter the Forrest Hills, New York, Championship 
        in 1950, after her talents and celebrity forced the American Lawn Tennis 
        Association to reevaluate its policy;
Whereas Althea Gibson was the first African-American invited to Wimbledon in 
        1951, eventually winning both the women's singles and doubles in 1957, 
        after which she was greeted by New York City with a ticker tape parade;
Whereas Althea Gibson was the first African-American woman to win the 
        championship at the French Open, in 1956;
Whereas Althea Gibson after finishing her amateur tennis career became a 
        professional golfer in 1959 and won the women's tennis professional 
        singles in 1960;
Whereas Althea Gibson was Athletic Commissioner for the State of New Jersey from 
        1975 to 1977; and
Whereas Althea Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 
        1971, and to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that Althea Gibson should be 
recognized for her ground breaking ath-

letic achievements and for continuing to serve as a role model for the 
Nation's youth.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.