Althea Gibson #1103

Caption from poster__     " No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you."   Althea Gibson    Before Althea Gibson could play -- much less win -- major tennis tournaments, another opponent had to be defeated. But Gibson had less control against this foe, which went by the name segregationJackie Robinson played in the major leagues (1947) before a black was permitted to play tennis at the U.S. National Championships.But cracks soon developed in the lily-white sport. And finally, in 1950, when Gibson was 23 years old, she was permitted to play at the U.S. Nationals, becoming the first black to compete in the tournament. She also later cracked the color barrier at Wimbledon. In 1956, Gibson made history by becoming the first black person to win the French championships. The next year, she made more history by winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals, the first black to win either. She must have liked winning the world's two most prestigious tournaments, too, because she