Althea Gibson

Althea Neale Gibson was born August 25th, 1927, in the town of Silver, South Carolina, to Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson, who worked as sharecroppers. The Great Depression would hit farmers and the Gibson’s hard, so in 1930, the family moved to Harlem, New York in the Great Migration. It was in Harlem that Althea, and her three sisters and one brother, would grow up in a Police Athletic League, where during daylight hours, the streets were barricaded so that children could play organized sports. Althea rapidly became talented in paddle tennis, and by the age of 12, she was the New York City women’s paddle tennis champion. At age 13, Althea dropped out of school, and engaged in what she best described as, “street fighting”, watching movies, and playing basketball.