[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 139 (Friday, October 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12444-S12445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO ALTHEA GIBSON

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to mourn the loss 
of Althea Gibson, a sports legend in professional tennis and golf and a 
pioneer for African-Americans in all walks of life. Ms. Gibson passed 
away in East Orange this past Sunday after suffering from respiratory 
complications.
  Althea Gibson was born on a cotton farm in Silver, SC, in 1927 but 
spent most of her childhood in Harlem, NY. She eventually moved to New 
Jersey.
  At an early age, Althea Gibson showed great promise in sports. Her 
favorite was basketball but she excelled at table tennis, too. Musician 
Buddy Walker noticed her ability and gave her a tennis racket as a gift 
when she was 14. The harsh reality of racial segregation left her 
unable to play tennis on public courts while growing up. Fortunately, 
two prominent African-American doctors had a private tennis court and 
gave Ms. Gibson the opportunity to play tennis there.
  By the early 1940s, Ms. Gibson began her tennis career as an amateur, 
playing in tournaments organized by the American Tennis Association, 
ATA, a predominantly African-American organization.
  In 1947, she won the first of 10 straight ATA National Championships. 
Within a few years, Ms. Gibson was ready to compete outside of the ATA.
  Her talent and record should have been sufficient for her to compete 
against white players in tournaments sanctioned by the United States 
Lawn Tennis Association, USLTA. But it took the help of Alice Marble, a 
champion tennis player herself, who wrote an article in American Lawn 
Tennis magazine. Ms. Marble noted that Gibson wasn't invited to 
participate in the USLTA championships for any reason other than 
``bigotry.'' Ms. Marble wrote, ``I think it's time we face a few facts 
. . . If tennis is a game of ladies and gentlemen, it's time we acted 
in a gentle manner, not like sanctimonious hypocrites.''
  Ms. Gibson finally received an invitation to play in the 1950 
National Tennis

[[Page S12445]]

Championships and made her historic debut at Forest Hills against 
Louise Brough, who had just won her third consecutive Ladies' Singles 
Championship at Wimbledon.
  One year later, Ms. Gibson became the first African-American to 
compete at Wimbledon.
  Between 1956 and 1958, she dominated the world of tennis, becoming 
the first African-American to win major tournaments, including the 
French Open singles and doubles, the Italian Open singles, Wimbledon 
singles and doubles, and the U.S. Open singles.
  She was selected as the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 1957 
and again in 1958, the first African-American woman to be so honored.
  Despite her success and fame, she encountered pernicious segregation 
throughout her career. Oftentimes when she competed at tournaments, 
she couldn't stay at the hotels the white players used, or join them 
for meals at restaurants. But her strength of character, her poise, and 
her determination carried her though such indignities. And she was 
gracious, too, writing in her autobiography, ``I Always Wanted To Be 
Somebody'': ``If I made it, it's half because I was game enough to take 
a lot of punishment along the way and half because there were a lot of 
people who cared for me.''

  In 1958, Ms. Gibson retired from amateur tennis and began a short-
lived career in professional basketball for the Harlem Globtrotters. 
She also pursued a professional career in golf, becoming the first 
African-American woman on the Ladies Professional Golf Association, 
LPGA, tour in 1962.
  Over the years, Ms. Gibson received many awards and accolades. Some 
of her most esteemed awards were her induction into the National Lawn 
Tennis Association Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, 
the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, and the International Sports Hall of 
Fame.
  Just a few weeks ago I was eulogizing another New Jerseyan who broke 
the color barrier, my friend Larry Doby, who played baseball for the 
Cleveland Indians. What Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson did for 
baseball, what Jesse Owens did for track and field, Althea Gibson did 
for tennis. She paved the way for Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison, and Venus 
and Serena Williams.
  Althea Gibson could have rested on her laurels. But her work wasn't 
done when she retired from the world of professional sports. She was 
the New Jersey State Commissioner of Athletics for 10 years (the first 
African-American woman to hold the post) and served on both the New 
Jersey State Athletics Control Board and the Governor's Council on 
Physical Fitness.
  The Althea Gibson Foundation, created in her honor and based in 
Newark, NJ, lives on, helping urban youth develop their tennis and golf 
skills and improve their lot in life.
  It is clear that the life Ms. Gibson led has served as an inspiration 
for African-Americans and all people. While I am saddened by her death, 
I am glad that she graced us with her presence. Ms. Gibson taught each 
of us that ``without struggle there can be no progress.'' She 
struggled, she succeeded, and we are all better for it.

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