Althea Gibson (1927 - 2003)

Born 25 Aug 1927 in Silver, Clarendon County, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of William Alexander Darben — married 17 Oct 1965 (to 1976) in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, United States

Died 28 Sep 2003 at age 76 in East Orange, New Jersey, United States

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Biography

Althea Gibson is Notable.

Althea Gibson was an American athlete who excelled at tennis and golf and in the 1950s and '60s broke the color barrier for women competing in those sports. In 1950 she was the first Black player to compete at the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills. She was the first African-American ever to win a Grand Slam tennis championship with her 1956 French Championships victory. In 1957 she was the first Black champion of Wimbleton, and the first Black player to be ranked No. 1 in the world. She won 11 tennis Grand Slam tournaments before retiring from amateur tennis in 1958. Then turning to golf, she was in 1962 the first Black player in an LPGA tour, and in 1964 became the first Black member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.^[1]

Her parents were Daniel Gibson and Annabelle Washington, sharecroppers on a South Carolina cotton farm when Althea was born in 1927.^[2] She was the oldest of five children.^[3] Three years later they joined the great migration and moved north to Harlem, New York around 1930, where Althea at first stayed with an aunt.^[4]

Althea married WWII U.S. Navy veteran William Alexander Darben, brother of her longtime friend, Rosemary Darben, on 17 October 1965 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[5][6] There were no children, and they divorced in 1976.^[1][7]

Queen Elizabeth II presents Gibson with the Venus Rosewater Dish at the 1957 Wimbledon women's singles championships (July 6, 1957)

Gibson is congratulated by Darlene Hard after defeating her in the 1957 Wimbledon women's singles championship

Althea was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.^[8][9]

In 1983 she married her coach, Jamaican-born Sydney Llewellyn. They were married on April 11, 1983 and divorced in 1988, with no children.^[1][7]

Althea Gibson 1927-2003

Althea Gibson died in New Jersey on 28 September 2003,^[10] and her ashes are housed at Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey.^[3]

A memorial sculpture of Althea Gibson

A memorial sculpture of her was unveiled at the dedication of the newly renovated Althea Gibson Tennis Center in Branch Brook Park, Newark, New Jersey on March 28, 2012. And another at the U.S. Open grounds of Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York during the 2019 Championships.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia contributors, "Althea Gibson," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Althea_Gibson&oldid=1096926472 (accessed July 12, 2022).
2. ↑ Social Security: "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007"
   Original data: Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007
   Ancestry Record 60901 #16082701 (accessed 22 July 2023)
   Name: Althea Gibson [Althea Gibson Darben] [Althea Llewellyn]; Gender: Female; Race: Black; Birth Date: 25 Feb 1926; Birth Place: Sumter, South Carolina [Silver, South Carolina]; Death Date: 28 Sep 2003; Father: Daniel Gibson; Mother: Annie B Washington; Notes: Jan 1943: Name listed as ALTHEA GIBSON; Jul 1967: Name listed as ALTHEA GIBSON DARBEN; 30 May 1984: Name listed as ALTHEA GIBSON LLEWELLYN.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7919058/althea-gibson: accessed 07 July 2022), memorial page for Althea Gibson (25 Aug 1927–28 Sep 2003), Find A Grave: Memorial #7919058, citing Rosedale Cemetery, Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave; Cremated.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4GB-CTP : accessed 1 July 2020), Altha Gibson in household of Sallie Dwyer, Manhattan (Districts 1001-1249), New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1038, sheet 5A, line 45, family 125, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1577; FHL microfilm 2,341,312.

   Manhattan, New York, New York<ref></ref>

   Name	Sex	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
   Sallie Dwyer	F	27	Widowed	Head	Domestic	South Carolina
   John Ridgway	M	26	Single	Roomer	Labor	South Carolina
   Altha Gibson	F	2	Single	Niece		South Carolina
   Rodgers	M	35	Single	Roomer	Porter	Virginia

5. ↑ "Reveal Althea Gibson Married Month Ago," Jet, 16 Dec 1965 Vol. 29, N° 10 ISSN 0021-5996 published by Johnson Publishing Company (64 pages), accessed Aug 2020 via Google Books.
6. ↑ Marriage: "Nevada, U.S., Marriage Index, 1956-2005"
   Page: E14
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1100 #8988842 (accessed 22 July 2023)
   Althea Gibson marriage to William A Darren on 17 Oct 1965.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} ESPN obituary for Althea Gibson
8. ↑ Althea Gibson International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees, retrieved Feb 2019
9. ↑ Inductee Althea Gibson
10. ↑ Death: "New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848-1878, 1901-2017"
    New Jersey State Archives; Trenton, New Jersey; New Jersey Death Index, 2001-2017
    Ancestry Record 61260 #507310 (accessed 22 July 2023)
    Althea Gibson death 28 Sep 2003 (born 25 Aug 1927) in New Jersey, USA.
11. ↑ Sally H. Jacobs, "Althea Gibson Gets Her Due at Last," New York Times, 26 August/4 September 2019, accessed Aug 2020.

See also:

• Althea Gibson 1927-2003
• Althea Gibson at the Tennis Hall of Fame
• https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/althea-gibson/
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Althea Gibson American tennis player 4 May 1999-24 Sep 2021; accessed 1 Apr 2022.
• https://warrensculpture.com/project/althea-gibson-memorial/
• Wikipedia: Althea Gibson
• Wikidata: Item Q53550, en:Wikipedia