Description

Althea Gibson almost retired from tennis in 1955, but instead, she went on to win the 1956 singles title at the French Open. The following season, she won the singles titles at both Wimbledon and Forest Hills, New York (the precursor to the U.S. Open). Look magazine featured Gibson in an article for its November 12, 1957 issue, for which Genevieve Naylor, the photographer assigned to the story, posed Gibson in Harlem, on the very street where she had grown up (143rd Street between Lenox and Seventh Avenues). While the young Gibson could often be seen playing paddle tennis in front of her building, tennis was not a popular sport in African American communities. After Gibson reached the top ranks, however, that began to change. As one of her fans later recalled, “everyone went out and bought a new racquet.”Althea Gibson consideró retirarse del tenis en 1955, pero, por el contrario, prosiguió a ganar el Abierto de Francia de 1956. La siguiente temporada ganó Wimbledon y Forest Hills en Nueva York (precursor del Abierto de EE.UU.). La revista Look la destacó en un artículo del 12 de noviembre de 1957. Genevieve Naylor, fotógrafa asignada al artículo, quiso retratar a Gibson en la calle de Harlem donde había crecido (calle 143 entre las avenidas Lenox y Séptima). Aunque de pequeña Gibson solía jugar paddle tennis frente a su edificio, el tenis no era popular en las comunidades afroamericanas. Esto empezó a cambiar cuando Gibson alcanzó

Record Contributed By

National Portrait Gallery

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution