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(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

ART CARRINGTON: It was just
an amazing day,
an amazing day,

that Althea playing
at Forest Hills and being
the first black player,

being able to play, was major.

It was a beautiful sunny day,
beautiful sunny day

and she walked on the court
to play Louise Brough,

-who was the best player
in the country at that time.
-(CROWD CHEERING)

NARRATOR: Nearly 2,000
spectators jammed
in the stands

and the Pinkertons
had to close the gates.

Among the spectators
were hecklers, shouting,
"Beat the nigger."

Althea blocked them out.

"I was too arrogant
and antisocial,"
Althea said,

"I was not conscious
of the racial difference."

CARRINGTON: Althea won
the first set, was up
in the second set,

-and out of left field the sun
and the blue sky turned black,
-(THUNDER RUMBLING)

just as Althea was about to
close the match up.

But there was no way
she could've lost, none.

And in two seconds
the rain came down
like buckets.

BARRY MURTHA: And at that time
one of the eagles

that adorns the top
of this gorgeous stadium
was knocked off.

I would've guessed
it might've been lightning,

but it was certainly something
that was, uh, tremendous
in strength and power.

LESLIE ALLEN: When we
walked up to the stadium,
we saw this huge eagle

so I'm thinking, "Oh, my God!
To be in this stadium,

"for the thunder
and lightning to come,

"to strike one of these
in such a way for it to
tumble to the bottom,

"it was as if the Tennis Gods
were like saying, 'Oh, no

"'this can't happen.
We've got to do something
to stop this match.'"

ALTHEA GIBSON: They tell me
I was born on August 25, 1927,

in a small town in
South Carolina called Silver.

My father, Dush,
and my mother, Annie,

both lived in a little cabin
on a cotton farm.

Daddy wouldn't have minded me
being a tom boy at all.

He wanted a son so he always
treated me like one.

Daddy always said,

"The big man,
he buy the cotton,

"he gave you the lowest
he could give you for it."

Daddy and my uncle only had
five acres of land.

Even if things had gone well
they couldn't have put
anything by it.

"I worked three years
for nothing," Daddy said.

I had to get out of there.

* Movin'

(ENGINE IDLING)

* Movin'

* Movin'

* Down

* The road

BOB DAVIS:
Althea came down a hard road.

She was a street kid.

She lived
in a depressed community.

She had a rough life
and she was aggressive.

She was instinctively
aggressive and I think
that has a lot to do

with where she came from
and how she got there.

If we are products
of our own environment, then,

you know, Althea came
to tennis an aggressive female

that had to learn
how to survive.

Althea didn't go to school
from the time she was
12 years old.

She went to high school
from like 18 to 22,

and so that gap of years
between 12 and 18,

Althea was pretty much,
you know, moving around
the streets.

LENNY SIMPSON: Her father
really wanted a boy.

Every day
he prepared her as a boy.

They would go up
on the rooftop

and he would have her
actually physically

fight against him.

He held nothing back.

Punishing each other.

Can you imagine
some of the blows
that she had to take

to prove to her father
that she was tough enough?

It was just like
she was fighting for her life.

He knew that if she
could one day

take him that she was ready
to take care of herself.

Playing the game of tennis
against an opponent

across the net,
hitting a fuzzy tennis ball,

that was like
ice cream and cake.

GIBSON: Well, it was,
uh, paddle tennis
that started it all.

At that time my parents was
living at 143rd Street

between Lennox and 7th Avenue,

and that happened to be
one of the play streets,

and they had all types
of games up and down
the street.

Hoop basketball, marbles,
loadies, and paddle tennis.

And that paddle tennis court
was right in front

of my parent's stoop
of that building.

One summer morning I came down
and a friend of mine,

we hung out together,
we played together,
roamed the streets together,

we saw two bats and a ball
on the paddle tennis court.

So we started hitting
back-and-forth

and from that moment on

we would, uh, get up
in the morning,

soon as they laid
the court out,
we were the first ones on,

we stayed on,
and we challenge anybody
on the block to play us.

Nobody would,
so we were there.
That's how I got started.

DAVIS: Oh, I think growing up
in Harlem

really did help to develop
Althea's aggressiveness,

because in street games

you stay on the field

when you win, you get
off the field when you lose.

Who wants to sit down
and watch?

Althea was the epitome
of winning every time
and at all cost.

Tennis is a game
where you learn from
the people around you.

But early on,
Althea was her own girl.

GIBSON: I was introduced
to the play street director
named Buddy Walker

who happened to be
a band leader

and plays tenor sax.

We had in those years
a tennis club

called the Cosmopolitan
Tennis Club.

That was the black
elite tennis club
in those years.

And he introduced me
to the club.

BILL DAVIS:
This was a private black club

that had five clay courts

and it was primarily, uh...

A club with,
what we might call
in those days,

the black bourgeoisie.

CARRINGTON:
The educated African-American

mirrored his
white counterpart.

So the black doctor
wanted for his family
the same kind of recreation,

the same kind of nice homes,
the same kind of facilities

that the white doctor had.

Whatever he got exposed to,
when he went back
into his community,

he took that.

DAVIS: We got to see
and rub shoulders with,
and converse with,

people that were extremely
well-educated people.

But these are the kind
of people that began to have
an influence on Althea

and to show her
that there was another way,

that you could play
a different kind of game,

and succeed at it.

But you had to play the game.

Well my style of play,
I believe, was,
uh, aggressive,

dynamic, and mean.

BILL: Althea was
a rough type of person

when she first came out
of Harlem and into
the tennis environment

and probably didn't have
some of the social graces

that they thought
would be more amenable
to being accepted.

One of my main mentors
was named Hilton Davis

and he was telling me
about how

when Althea lost
to this Nana Vaughn

when they were juniors,

and he laughed in the stands,

she ran off the court
and ran up in to the stands
and beat up this man.

Althea was known to be tough.

You know, that's why she was
kinda special to me,

because Althea,
like myself, was urban...

And we carried the urbanness.
We, we didn't hide it.

You know, I was proud
of where I was from,

I was proud that I was
a Northerner and I didn't want
to hold my head down.

DAVIS: Growing up
in the inner-city,

it is really a survival
of the fittest in many ways.

Now, when you transition
that over to tennis,

it's very alien to get into
a competition with somebody.

Maybe get your brains beat out

and then walk up to the net,

quietly shake
this opponent's hand
and congratulate them

for having beat
your brains out.

It's just not something
that we instinctively
wanted to do.

Those are the kinds of
gentile skills

that one needed to learn

to become a tennis player

and those were the challenges
that many of Althea's mentors,

like Sugar Ray,
had to teach her.

Sugar Ray Robinson loved,
believe it or not,
he loved tennis

and he took a liking to Althea

and realized the potential
that she had.

DR. HUBERT EATON JR.:
She met Sugar Ray Robinson
and he did a lot for her.

And, uh, Robinson
put something in her head

that she could be another
Sugar Ray Robinson,

so then she started believing
again in herself.

BILL:
We could immediately see
she was a gifted athlete.

She was few years
older than I was

and she started taking lessons
from the same coach
that I did.

A man by the name of
Fred Johnson,

who ironically
only had one hand

and one arm and he would hold
the ball and the racket
in the same arm.

GIBSON: And he took me on
to teach me how to play
lawn tennis.

He taught me the basics,
the footwork,

the service motion.

I won the ATA
girls singles championship

at the Cosmopolitan
Tennis Club

through the tutelage
of Fred Johnson at the time.

RADIO ANNOUNCER:
Tennis today is packing them
in courts

all across the 48 states.

This match between
two queens of the courts,

Miss Peters of Tuskegee
and Miss Althea Gibson
of New York

draws a large crowd.

For tennis, it's said,
holds a strange fascination
over the people who watch it.

CARRINGTON: Through the time
in our history in America

where African-Americans
could not participate in
organized major sports,

so what we did was form
our own organizations.

We formed the American
Tennis Association,

which was the first
sports organization founded

by African-Americans in 1917

and it was pretty much,
uh, a who's who

recreational circuit
for the black intelligentsia.

Althea Gibson, she had
a couple of people that really
supported her

that she really liked,
but overall this was
not her world.

She had a lot of hostility
towards the black middle class

who actually supported her

and a lot of the black
middle class had hostility
towards Althea

as a result of her attitude.

So she took to tennis,
but she didn't want to take

the culture
of the middle class.

All of the etiquette
of the Cosmopolitan
Tennis Club

was foreign to her,

but she really wanted
to make a point that this
wasn't my background.

GIBSON: I'm ashamed to say
I was still living
pretty wild.

I stopped going to school,

I was supposed to be
looking for a job,
but I didn't look very hard

because I was too busy
playing tennis in the daytime

and having fun at night.

Some of the Cosmopolitan club
folk who brought me out
from New York

were pretty disappointed
in me.

I remember
one of them saying

they were through with me
because they didn't think
much of my attitude.

SIMPSON: I think
the thing that she was
very much lacking was,

knowing that someone
really cared for her

and really wanted to help her
succeed in life.

Dr. Hebert Eaton to me

was one of the two
godfathers of black tennis.

LANGE JOHNSON:
Back in 1946,

my grandfather approaches
Althea with Dr. Hubert Eaton

and posed the question
about whether she'd be
interested in playing

the US National Championships,
Forest Hills,

the mecca of American tennis
and national championships.

And of course when she heard
that she thought these
guys are either,

uh, snake oil salesmen,
(STAMMERS) or some kind
of charlatans.

There's no way that
that was going to be possible
given the social backdrop

and landscape at the time.

EATON JR.: One or two
of them, either Irwin
or my father, said

we ought to try and do
something to help this girl.

Young physicians, um,

who were really
enthusiastic about tennis,

so they made some
inquiries and found out
this young lady

was about 18 to 19 years old

and hadn't been
going to school.

They made her an offer saying,

"Now Althea,
you've got a lot of talent,

"but in the world that
we live in you can't really

"improve your game or move up
until you get some education."

JOHNSON: So the master plan
was to split time
in North Carolina

during the winters,
where Althea, with
Dr. Hubert Eaton's family,

would work on getting
her education and
high school degree

and at the same time
in the summers,

come to Lynchburg,
Virginia and spend
the entire summer

with my grandfather
Dr. Johnson,

traveling and training
on a daily basis with
the rest of his charges

that were part of the elite
junior development program
that he was starting to form.

CARRINGTON: Blacks wanted
to be represented in
major league tennis.

When they saw Althea Gibson
in the '40s,

they saw a Jackie Robinson.

JOHNSON: I think he saw
the challenge
in front of them.

"Why wasn't there more color
in the game of tennis?"

Was really
a question of access.

EATON JR.: He trained them
every single day, you know,

drills, back hand,
forehand, lot of balls.

They had to hit about 12,000
balls a day, you know,

hard as you can hit.

DAVIS:
The best minority players
in the country

were being brought into one
location to hone our games.

So he arranged to bring
us together and we traveled,

playing tournaments
with one another.

We learned to get along
and support one another

because we were
a very select few people

that were allowed to go out
and play in these tournaments.

(ENGINE STARTS)

We went to Ohio.

We were in a small town
and we were staying in a YMCA

and they allowed us to play
in the tournament,

to the chagrin
of many of the players
and their families.

We were asleep in the middle
of the night and that fire axe
came through the door.

I mean... (STUTTERS)

We jumped up
and it was a frightening
experience to see.

An axe through your door
is a frightening thing.

And of course when we finally
did open the door
and nobody was there,

but there was a note
that said that
we should go home.

Which we did not do.

Dr. J was cool
as he could ever be.

He said, "We know this was
gonna happen,

"don't worry about it,
you won't get hurt."

And we went on and played.

CARRINGTON:
He promised our parents

that he would take care of us

and always our safety
would come first.

EATON JR.: I don't know
how much Althea
knew about the South

before she came
because the school
systems were

totally segregated.

A real apartheid.

Althea came to Wilmington
in September 1946.

She lived upstairs
in our two story bungalow
on Orange Street.

On the way home there was
Brown's pool hall

'round the corner
of 11th and Orange.

So she stopped in one day
and started to shoot
some pool.

And people,
as they are in small towns,

noticed her and then got on
the phone, call and said,

"Doc! Your girl out there
playing pool
in Brown's pool hall!"

So when she got home,
my mother and father
talked to her and said,

"Now in the South,
now, ladies don't go
in pool halls."

And that was the end of that.

CARRINGTON:
Unless you really grew up in
that kind of segregation,

it was kinda hard
to enjoy being
away for a summer of tennis

based out
of Lynchburg, Virginia.

Just the name,
Lynchburg, Virginia.

The only place
we could play tennis
was in the back yard

and when the top white players
wanted to come
and work out with us,

they had to come
and play in the yard
and we would have matches

sometimes that would take
eight hours.

We start in the morning
and one match after another

just play in the yard all day.

Dr. Johnson got permission
for us to practice
at a public school,

hard courts, 'cause we were
going to the ATA nationals
which was on hard courts

and so we got this permission

and I've never been
called nigger so many times

till... In my life.

As when we were out
at the courts and it was just
like a powerless thing.

I was out there
and the football team
was practicing that day

and so as the football team
was leaving the field,

they was like,
"Look at those niggers play!

"Play, nigger! Look at...
Where he learn how to play
tennis like that, nigger?"

And it was just
the most incredible

and so the Southern boys
looked at me and Lenwood

and these guys was like,
"All right,

"you know, the only thing
you could do was
get hurt down here."

DOUG SMITH: Dr. Johnson
was a practicing physician

so he had to get to work
every day,

but he would give us
schedules, not only a
practice schedule,

but also the chores
that we had to do each day.

When we ate dinner
he would give us our lessons
in etiquette.

How to use your silverware,

how to scoop your soup
away from you,
those types of things.

CARRINGTON: The first time
I sat down at
the table to eat,

I took two biscuits
and he really went
into a thing.

"You don't take
two biscuits here!

"And this is not...
And you don't have to fight
for food," and, you know,

and, uh, so etiquette
was really, you know...

Dr. Johnson
was a true pioneer.

DAVIS:
We had our marching orders.

You go out there,
you play the way you know
how to play,

you question no calls,

you challenge nobody.

If you get a bad call,
walk away.

And his idea was,
if you question it

you will be perceived
as the one that stopped
everybody else

from being
able to participate.

Pre-Martin Luther King,
that was his
Martin Luther King strategy

for, uh, getting us to be
accepted to USTA tournaments.

There was a sense
of pecking order,

it wasn't the sort of
thing like,

"Okay, great, everybody
did a good job today,

"everybody gets a badge."

It wasn't like today's society
that if you'd show up
you'd get a ribbon.

If you were gonna be one
who was gonna travel

then you were gonna
have to work your buns off,

you were not gonna be allowed
to have any kind of attitude
or be disgruntled,

or have...

You just weren't,
you just had to be
on your best behavior

I mean, and you knew it.

He was preparing you
to deal in a world
that didn't want you.

Because if you could survive
at Dr. J's

then nobody else
could come up with anything
more difficult

and without really stressing,
you know,

you can't go out there
and act like this
around those white folks,

that was never said,
so it was more of how you're
representing yourself.

DAVIS: I think what that
brought to Althea was the
first sense of discipline,

you can't do everything
that you want to do
when you wanna do it.

She recognized
that this was something

that she absolutely
wanted to do,

but knew, based on

dealing with Dr. Johnson
and Dr. Eaton,

it wasn't gonna be
her way or the highway,
it was gonna be their way.

GIBSON: We had some good times
making those summer tours.

I played in nine tournaments
that first summer,

and won every one of them.

For whatever it was worth,

I was the best woman player
in Negro tennis.

NICK BOLLETTIERI:
Everything she did
was with elegance.

Her movement was very,
very graceful like a dancer,

but she was built
to play tennis.

Long, lean, long legs...

That helps.

MURTHA:
Althea was a most impressive

and imposing figure
on the court.

She was tall. Willowy.

Very graceful.

The enormous wingspan.

You wonder how the hell anyone
could ever get anything by.

BOLLETTIERI:
She played the total game,

she covered the whole court,

she would come to the net,
she could slice the ball.

I have here another picture
of Althea serving

which is to me a classic
because she's doing
everything correctly.

She's reaching up
for the ball,

she's looking at the ball
as she hits it,

and, and everything
is just perfect form.

I can remember,

after hitting with her
one day at Dr. Eaton's.

She said, "You have
a football, Lenny?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Go home
and get your football."

This young lady
threw that football at least
50 to 60 yards

right on the button,

could've been a quarterback
on any NFL team.

I mean she could run,
this woman could really run,

that's why she could
serve and volley

and she had
a good volley game.

The one thing Althea had
was self confidence in her
ability as an athlete.

And that came through
loud and clear
by her mannerisms,

her body language,
what she said,
how she said it.

She took no prisoners.

Everyone could feel
her presence.

She had a stage presence.

You'd feel her,
she'd walk in a room,
you'd feel her.

It was very intimidating
when she walked on the court,

her walk, her look.

She basically scared the hell
out of a lot of the girls.

None of the women
wanted to play her. (CHUCKLES)

And so she had that edge
over them psychologically.

DAVIS: Often my coach would
put me on the court with her

and the dominant thing
that I remember about
Althea is her

willingness to hit me
with tennis balls.

If I came to the net
to volley she would try
to knock me down.

This was Althea's way
of expressing her
superiority to us.

She was the champion.

We were her hitting partners,
and remember that.

Of course, in those years
I was, uh, struggling to

become well known
as the first black player,

to compete against
world class champions.

SAVITT: It was the USTA,
I don't know
that a written rule or not,

I don't think
that it was written,
probably an unwritten rule.

And that just barred
anybody of color from playing.

Everything was white,

the balls, the clothes,
the people, the socks,
the shoes, everything.

ARVELIA MYERS:
Althea wanted to play there.

Just give me the stage and I
will show you what I can do.

It's not about race.

(KEYS CLACKING)

ALICE MARBLE:
On my current lecture tour,

the question I am most
frequently expected to answer

is whether Althea Gibson
will be permitted to play
in the Nationals this year.

When I directed the question
to a committee member
of long standing,

his answer
was in the negative,

Miss Gibson will not be
permitted to play

and it will be
the reluctant duty
of the committee

to reject her entry
at Forest Hills.

I think it's time
we faced a few facts.

If tennis is a game
for ladies and gentlemen,

it's also time
we acted a little more
like gentle people

and less like
sanctimonious hypocrites.

We can accept the evasions,
ignore the facts,

so no one will be
honest enough to
shoulder the responsibility

for Althea Gibson's probable
exclusion from the Nationals.

Or we can face the issue
squarely and honestly.

It so happens that I tan
very heavily in the summer,

but I doubt that anyone ever
question my right to play in
the Nationals because of it.

It's just as ridiculous to
reject Althea Gibson
on the same basis,

-and that's the truth of it.
-(CROWD CHEERING
AND APPLAUDING)

DAVIS: I got the chance
to go out to Forest Hills
with Althea.

I warmed Althea up before she
went out to play

and it was
a remarkable experience.

It was the mecca of tennis
and it was

something that was
very alien to us.

People that have not been to
Forest Hills don't understand

that it was in a community,

so you'd park
in somebody's driveway

and they would charge
you $5 to watch your car
while you were in there.

And then you'd walk in.

BOLLETTIERI: And there was
that club house,
like a Tudor home in England,

sitting by itself and say, hey

to get in here
you have to be somebody.

Even when
the tournament was on,

to get in
was a feat in itself.

And then to go up
in the locker room
to go to the bathroom,

holy mackerel, you know,
that's... (STUTTERS)
That was unbelievable.

DAVIS: The smell of the food
as you walked in,

the people with the hats,

the players
with the sunscreen,

things like we had never seen.

It's just so mind-blowing
and intimidating.

There's no crowd
like the New York crowd,

there ain't no crowd
like the New York crowd

and there never will be,
whether it's football,

basketball,
the marathon, or tennis.

(CROWD CHEERING)

DAVIS: Once you walk
into the stadium,

there's a new world
that opens up to you.

SAVITT: The press coverage
with the big cameramen
all over the place,

and so they walked down
the grand stand court
next to the stadium.

MURTHA: It was a shame
that it was in
the grand stand,

because so many people
weren't able to see her,

they were turned away,

but they were looking
under the fences,
under the wind screens,

climbing in the trees,

looking down on the court
to get a glimpse of this, uh,
wonderful young lady.

(CROWD CHEERING)

GIBSON: The first time
I played at Forest Hills...

It was against,

I think it was the defending
champion at the time,
Louise Brough.

BOLLETTIERI: Louise always had
a tendency to get nervous,

she had a bad service toss,
and her forehand
got a little shaky,

but for some reason
she just felt
extremely nervous,

it looked that way to me.

GIBSON: I was beating her,
a set a piece,

and the third set,

I was leading,

and all of a sudden
the clouds open up...

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

The sky got dark,
as if they didn't want me
to win this match,

and the rains came
pouring down,

lightning came immediately
and struck

the eagle on that corner
of the stadium,

and tumble it down...

And they had to postpone
the match.

I had to sleep on that,
that overnight.

RADIO ANNOUNCER:
And now
the tennis world wonder.

Will young, unknown
Althea oust the star?

All she needed was one game.

The pressure was too much
for young Althea Gibson.

She lost her touch.

Miss Brough took full command.

MAN: Out!

RADIO ANNOUNCER:
For Althea, it was a
heartbreaking experience.

GIBSON: And the next day
I came out. I
didn't have nothing.

I lost all sting
and she beat me.

NARRATOR: I have sat in
on many dramatic
moments in sports,

but few were more thrilling
than Miss Gibson's performance

against Miss Brough,

because of the great tribe
behind this lonely
and nervous colored girl

and because of the manner
in which the elements

robbed her
of her great triumph.

(MARCHING BAND PLAYING)

ANGELA BUXTON:
My first encounter with Althea

was at Queen's Club when I was
still in my school uniform

with my straw boater hat
and my satchel on my back.

She was playing on
court nine near the gate,

so I sort of wheedled my way
in and low and behold
there she was,

serving and volleying,
looking like a young man.

She hit the ball much harder
than I had ever seen before.

She was coming off the court
so I quickly produced
a little notebook,

from my work satchel

and, uh, asked her to sign
something for me.

She looked at me and I said,

"Um, I'd like to play
like you one day,

"possibly win Wimbledon."

She said, "Not before I do."
(CHUCKLES)

DONALD DELL: In those days
it was a totally different
tour than it is today.

It was in the clubs,
you stayed in private housing,

you stayed
with club members normally.

There was no money.
You got your expenses
if you were lucky,

and if you were
a very good player
you might make $200 a week

to cover your expenses.

BILLIE JEAN KING:
We went to country clubs
during the day.

It was a nice life.
It was fun.

And you were never gonna
get ahead financially.

You know they used to have
a term called the,
"tennis bum,"

we were kind of tennis bums.

We would just
kind of live off rich people
week to week

basically is what
we were doing.

Well, you feel uncomfortable
I can tell you,
you don't know what to do

because you know these people
are very wealthy

and they have a certain way
of thinking about the world
and a certain way

and you're kind of walking
on egg shells the whole time,

I always was.

DELL: The clubs were
very restrictive, I mean,

I would say 95% of the clubs
that players played in had
no black members,

and many cases they had
no Jewish members,

and they would allow
the week of the tournament

for Althea Gibson or,
uh, Arthur Ashe to play

because they wanted to see
the best players,

but certainly they
couldn't have become members.

MYERS: As far as
Althea was concerned,

it was not about

representing the race.

KING: Arthur and I used
our tennis as a platform.

That's not what she wanted,
she just wanted to play,

just let me be one of you,

and unfortunately in the '50s
it just wasn't that easy.

It's just not gonna be
like that.

BUXTON: They sent them
to the far east

to do clinics
and to play tournaments,

the motives behind
the state department tour

in the 1950s
was to try and impress

on the wider world at large,

particularly the black
communities over there,

that tennis was a good sport
to play

for blacks and for whites

and blondes and you could have
fun whatever color you were

or whatever background
you came from.

She was sent with a girl
called Karol Fageros

from Coral Gables, Miami,

who was very pretty, um,

and they selected her
particularly because she was
a good tennis player

and good looking as well.

And here was Althea
in contrast,

black, also a good
tennis player.

I was sent there, too

by the British Lawn
Tennis Association.

So I chummed up
with the American girls,

and I became very friendly
with Althea and Karol.

Their flight ticket was
a return ticket to the
United States,

at the end of the month.

And, uh, Karol went home,

but Althea talked to me about
the possibility of staying on

and she asked me
could she last out

to play all the tournaments
between January and July,

which was Wimbledon on
the money.

And I said to her,
"Well, I think you could.

"And if you don't,
you've always got your
return ticket to use,

"you can go back again.

"I'll see you in Paris,"

'cause the Paris Indoor
was coming up in February,

and I said,
"If you like," I said,
"we'll play doubles together,"

and she said, "Yes, okay,
let's do that."

She was a curiosity
and most tournament organizers

wanted her
because she was an attraction.

People had never seen
a black player before

and they didn't know
black people
could play tennis.

And so they were prepared

to pay her expenses,

so she had a little money.

She was learning to be
professional, she was learning

to look after her body because
if she became sick

she was out on a tangent,

she couldn't last, you see,
she needed the money
every week.

She became very meticulous
with what she ate,

uh, the times
she went to bed,

times she got up
in the morning, the rest,

the practice, everything.
She was much,
much more professional

during that six months.
It made her, really,

because she felt not only
that she had to keep well
but she had to win as well.

CARRINGTON:
So this is a picture of the
finalists at the 1920

ATA championship
in New York.

On the left here
is B. M. Clark

and he came from Jamaica,

and on the right
is Tally Holmes,
who was the current champ

from Washington, D.C.

Tally Holmes, by the way,
was a Dartmouth graduate

in maybe 1916, 1917,

and B. M. Clark
was the first, um,

black man to play
in Wimbledon.

He played Wimbledon in 1924.
Like I said, he was Jamaican

so you could see that the ATA
was an international
tournament.

It wasn't just
African-Americans
in the North,

it was a tremendous influence
on Northern tennis

from the West Indian community
because they had tennis
in Jamaica,

they had tennis in Trinidad,
they had tennis
in the Caribbean

islands where these people
came from.

You really don't know
black tennis

if you don't know
who Sydney Llewellyn was

because he was black tennis
in the New York,
New Jersey area in the '50s.

He was a dominant personality.
He was very flamboyant.

Sydney Llewellyn
was a Jamaican.

He came to America
at 18 years old.

The first time I saw him,
he pulled up,

he was wearing a safari hat
with a safari jacket,

he was New York all the way.

He came to America
to be a professional dancer.

He said, "I'm a Mac Man."
He was the first one
to use the word pimp

and not meaning prostitutes

but charisma,
character, style,

you know what I'm saying,
in the black language.

He helped Althea develop
the self-confidence

that allowed her
to be a champ.

He wasn't her initial coach,
Fred Johnson was that.

Dr. Johnston, Dr. Eaton, these
guys helped her in the ATA,

but she didn't win any titles
until she was with Sydney
Llewellyn

because Sydney Llewellyn
was the mental man.

He, you know...
He worked from
a mind game

and so he helped Althea
tremendously mentally.

(RADIO ANNOUNCER
SPEAKING IN FRENCH)

COMMENTATOR:
Once a year, the world's
best tennis players

come to Wimbledon

for the all-England
championship,

the unofficial equivalent
of the World Championship.

Favored to win the women's
singles in 1957

is Althea Gibson
from New York, USA.

But there may be an upset.

Her opponent for the semifinal

is a 16-year-old British girl,
Christine Truman.

The young blonde prodigy
who has crowned several
of the top seeded stars.

For Althea Gibson
this is a crucial match

in her 10-year-long effort
to become the world's
best tennis player.

Althea has a big,
powerful game.

She overwhelms
the British girl.

The score? 6-1, 6-1.

The great task
is still to come.

Queen Elizabeth of England
is among the spectators
at the Final.

Here, Althea Gibson
faces Darlene Hard,

a fellow American
from California.

Even Miss Hard applauds.

Althea is in top condition.

Match point!

And it's all over. 6-3, 6-2.

Darlene is a good loser.

Queen Elizabeth walks
onto the center court
to present the trophy.

This is Althea Gibson's reward
for many years of effort.

It's a moment crowded
with memories.

HULAN E. JACK: The young woman
we are honoring today

truly deserves our tribute.

She is a product of our city.

She came up the hard way

and now stands
at the top of her class.

She reached the top

not only because of her
natural athletic ability

but because of her unwavering
courage

and determination
to be a champion.

Well, Althea, how do you feel
about your victory
at Wimbledon?

Well, I feel quite elated
and quite happy about it,
of course.

It was, uh, well,
it was a good thing.

I went over there
to win Wimbledon
and I succeeded.

Althea! Althea, when you left
for Wimbledon two weeks ago,

I understand from Buddy Walker

that he and two others
were the only people
to see you off.

Is there a big change in the
situation two weeks later?

Well, yes! A great big change.

JACK:
Althea, you're a champion

in a world of champions.

What you have done
has added strength

and meaning to the Star
Spangled Banner

and is as truly American
as the Stars and Stripes.

How you reached that goal

is an inspiration
to all Americans.

What you came through
to sit here today,

honored by your fellow
citizens

of all races, creeds, color
and religion is ample proof

that in our democracy
we take the leadership

in emphasizing
human achievements

as we move ever forward

in our vigorous crusade,

toward full equal opportunity.

(APPLAUSE)

Will you come in,
Mr. Challenger,
and sign in please.

(CROWD APPLAUDS)

DALY: You can ask one question
at a time,

in turn, moving clockwise,

and let's begin
with Dorothy Kilgallen.

Are you in anything other than
the motion picture industry?

(MIMICKING DIFFERENT VOICE)
Yes.

And are you principally
a movie star?

-No.
-Well, are you in the theater?

-No.
-Two down, and eight to go,
Mr. Cerf.

Would you say that your field
is athletics of any kind?

-Yes.
-Miss Kilgallen?

KILGALLEN: Uh, have you been
to England within the last
few weeks?

-Yes.
-DALY: Miss Frances?

Well, are you our, practically
our best tennis player,

Miss Althea Gibson?

-DALY: Yes! (LAUGHS)
-(CROWD APPLAUDS)

COMMENTATOR:
In 1957, she meets
Louise Brough

for the US Championship,

the same Louise Brough
who had dealt her
that heartbreaking defeat

seven years earlier.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHEERS)

COMMENTATOR: The US title,
which has eluded her
all these years

is what she's after now
with all her might.

She is relaxed and confident.

This time she's sure
of herself.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD EXCLAIMS)

COMMENTATOR: Louise Brough,
great player though she is,

cannot stop her this time.

At the end, the score stands,
6-3, 6-2

and Althea Gibson
is the new champion
of the United States.

(CROWD APPLAUDS)

She stands in the big stadium
in her hour of triumph.

The long years of struggle
are forgotten in the ovation,

the tribute to her fellow
countrymen as they rise
for her.

-(BAND PLAYING)
-(CROWD CHEERING)

COMMENTATOR:
As the Vice President
of the United States

presents her with the trophy.

It's a dream come true
for Althea Gibson,

tennis champion.

(BAND CONTINUES PLAYING)

CARRINGTON: After she won,
Sydney Llewellyn told her,
"Okay, you did it once,

"now show 'em that it
wasn't a fluke. Go back
and do it again."

(CROWD CHEERING)

The Wimbledon ball
was full evening dress,

and it was by invitation
mainly

and it was like Hollywood.

The photographers,

they were all on the sidewalk

as the players stepped out
of the taxis
to go into the hotel,

and they would be identified,
whispers, you know,

that's Althea Gibson
over there.

The evening of the ball
was a very joyous occasion.

It was a part of the ceremony

that the women's winner
would open the dancing
with the men's winner.

I just put a good word in

to the band, actually,
as whether they would

entertain the fact,
um, of Althea

singing a song
or two with them.

And they said, "Certainly,
with the greatest
of pleasure."

She brought the house down,
of course, 'cause no one

really was expecting her
to sing.

In fact, I think she sang, um,

(SING-SONG) "I can't give you
anything but love, baby."

I think that's the song
she sang.

* I can't give you anything
but love, baby *

COMMENTATOR:
It's now point set
for the match and title.

(CROWD CHEERING)

COMMENTATOR: Althea Gibson
is still women's
world champion.

Good evening, Althea.

-Good evening, Mr. Sullivan,
how are you?
-Fine.

Well, with all the matches
you've won,

you could probably use
a second apartment

just to display the trophies,
couldn't you?

-My goodness, yes.
-(ED SULLIVAN LAUGHS)

There's the French trophy
over here

that I won in Paris, France.

Isn't it a beautiful
little thing?

SULLIVAN: Lovely.
GIBSON: It's very dainty.

SULLIVAN: Very nice.
Is that a Hi-Fi set there?

Yes it is, Ed.
This is one of
my great treasures

and joy when I'm around
the house

and listening
to the wonderful music

and also Ed,
this is my first album.

As a matter of fact
would you like to hear
one of the selections?

-Very much.
-Wonderful.

I think you will like it.

It's Around the World.

* Around the world

* I search for you

GIBSON: Naturally,
I'm always glad
when something I do

turns out to be helpful
to all Negroes

or for that matter,
to all Americans

or maybe only
to all tennis players.

But I don't consciously beat
the drum for any cause

not even the cause
of the Negro
of the United States.

Althea Gibson
was our Jackie Robinson,

so this wasn't just tennis,
this was a woman

that was really held
in high esteem.

CARRINGTON: She was pressured
to be more outspoken

but she wanted to be

a person who did it through
her racket.

BOLLETTIERI: And she felt
showing people

what a person from the ghetto

could accomplish was more than

just talking
in front of a group.

EATON JR.: She never got
into it like
Jackie Robinson did.

So they all... Black people
had no use for her

in a way at that time.

Not helping out, you know,
she should have been
down there to fight

'cause she's a celebrity.

She didn't make any speeches
or nothin'.

BOBBY SCHIFFMAN:
People will look at a star
baseball player

and listen to what he says
about politics.

He doesn't know the first damn
thing about politics

but because he's a hero

and because he's a major
figure, his opinion
means something.

Well, for that reason
I think that,

that any reluctance
on the part

of... (CLEARS THROAT)
A performer or an
athlete to get into the fray

when it comes
to the betterment
of the conditions

of their people
was ill-advised.

They should have done it
right from the beginning.

BILL: I guess,
we was too absorbed

in ourselves. (LAUGHS)

I don't think
she really felt her denials

or hardships
were a Civil Rights thing.

REPORTER: Althea, uh,
did you find in,

in that getting to the top
of the tennis world

that you had any real
great obstacles

because of your race
or did you find it

a surprisingly easy road?

No, I don't think
that there are any obstacles

as far as race is concerned.

BUXTON: I was born
into a Jewish family
in England.

During the war,
when I was a small child
in South Africa,

as an evacuee,
we lived in Cape Town

and we shared

a sort of communal patio,
right at the foot
of the mountain

on the back door
and this little black girl

who was the same age
as myself, pretty little girl,

used to come out after school
and play and so did I.

We developed a friendship.

And a friend of my mother's
said, "I would stop
that friendship

"right away if I were you.

"It's not right in this
country for white people
to befriend black people."

And I was stopped seeing her.

And I never really understood,
neither, my mother
didn't either,

but we were in a way,
there in South Africa

um, by the kind permission
of the South African
government,

we didn't want to upset
the apple cart
in any way at all,

'cause they might ask us
to go home.

So she agreed,
but we never really
understood it,

because she thought,
um, and I thought
because she thought,

that they were just the same
as us, what was the matter
with that?

And I never met any other
black people until I met
Althea.

With Althea,

I found a kindred spirit,
one could say.

We were like soulmates.

ANNOUNCER: One favorite
who'll be missed
on the courts this year

is Britain's Angela Buxton
who has injured her wrist

but will be seeing American
champion Althea Gibson

and Angela has designed
an outfit especially
for Althea.

She's joined a London
sportswear firm as a designer

and this is one of her models.

BUXTON: By this time,
I was already number one
in the game, in England

and I went up
for the Easter tournament

and asked them if I could...

If they could supply
somebody for me to hit
with and I never heard.

And eventually the journalist
from the South Ports Visitor,

he said, "They had a meeting
about you

"and they decided no Jews
at this club

"and therefore they
would not allow you
to practice there."

In Althea's company

I never felt
anything like that at all

which I did
with the other girls.

People reacted to Althea

in Great Britain
in a shocked sort of way.

They didn't say very much
because we're not...

Um, very talkative
about these things.

We tend to keep them
to ourselves.

But, um, black people

weren't really accepted.

We didn't have a lot
in England, actually,

so again this aroused
even more curiosity.

When she did come
to stay with me

there were a few raised
eyebrows in the block of flats

and I was asked how long
she was staying

'cause one or two
of the unit owners

had noticed her

and wanted to know whether
she had moved in, actually.

Um, but, um,

I didn't give a damn,
actually.

We heard a knock on door

and I opened the door
in my flat

and there was this black guy
standing there.

Handsome, in uniform, a major.

A little mustache.
Ah, what a good looking
guy he was.

"Is Althea Gibson here?"
I said, "Yes."

So he... "Come on in,
are you a friend of hers?"

And he said, yes,
and it was an old relationship

and they got cracking
and I gave them the bedroom
and I moved out.

And they were there
for two days.

I was putting trays
of food outside,

so they could eat at least
in between,

uh... Oh, yes, she had
a thoroughly good time.

Bill Darben was the
love of Althea's life.

Her first husband.

SANDRA TERRY:
My Uncle William was always

more of a quiet, intellectual
type.

So I think it was for her
a kind of a respite away from

being competitive and the more
athletic type of pursuits.

It takes a special man

to be able to be secondary
in the relationship.

He not only had Althea,
but he had her fans,

he had the publicity

and I think
on a couple of occasions,
he was called Mr. Gibson

and he didn't appreciate
it at all.

SMITH: She won Wimbeldon
and the US Open

both in '57 and '58.

Then she had to quit
and she had to quit because

she didn't have a job.

BUXTON: Bottom line
was we lived in an era

where there was no money
in tennis.

Tennis was from the gentile

part of the society

of which she was not one.

SMITH: She had stopped
playing tennis during
that time when she was

clearly the best player
in the world.

"You can't eat a crown,
so I gotta make a living."

GIBSON:
* Because of you

* My life is now worthwhile

* And I can smile

* Because

* Of you

ANNOUNCER: Good
evening, ladies and gentlemen,
your Mercury dealer

and your Lincoln dealer
present The Ed Sullivan Show!

(APPLAUSE)

* Though life seems dreary
and blue

* You know there's someone

* Who cares for you

* Though the heart of man
be gone

* The soul will carry on

REPORTER: Have you thought
about turning professional?

Well, I'll tell ya,
I don't talk about
the professional tennis,

it's a bad omen.

(STAMMERS) 'Cause when
you talk, uh, some people

get the idea
that when you talk
about professional tennis

they feel that you might
uh, be professional
or you might do this

and, uh, so to avoid
all of those criticisms

I don't talk
about professional tennis.

KING:
Particularly men would either
go be a contract pro

and keep playing tennis
and make money

or they'd go into some field
of business like finance

'cause they had good
connections,

the Ol' Boy Network
really helped the men.

We did not have that.

DELL:
If Althea was playing today,

she would probably be earning
close to 10 million dollars

pretty easily.

If you flip it back
into the '50s
when she was playing,

if she cleared $200 a week
she was doing great.

If she paid her coach
or if she had a friend

or a husband or whoever

that was traveling with her
and she paid any of that,
she lost money.

See, I got a saying
that I heard a guy say that,

"The stream will always show
the source."

And so she
didn't go to school,

she was a street kid

and a lot of that street
stayed in her spirit.

You know, 'cause
she had people that liked her,

they helped her get
into Forest Hills and whatnot,

but I didn't never saw
anywhere, where,

you know, just in the business
sense that she had any allies,

anybody that came to her
and said, "Let's open
an Althea Gibson restaurant."

WILLIAM HAYLING:
It was after the Globetrotter
days that she wasn't able

to make any money
and she was always trying
to find some way

to enhance her monetary
situation.

And around 1960,
when she started playing golf

and got very good
in a short time.

She could hit the ball
a long way

and could drive
almost 300 yards.

Around the second
or third year of playing,

she came to me
and asked me if I could help

you know, sponsor her
because she was having
a hard time

traveling in her car,
going to tournaments.

The first tournament
she played as a matter
of fact, in Oklahoma,

she couldn't use
the women's dressing room.

She had to change
in her car.

The year that we helped her,
she did her best

as far as money.

She never won any major
tournaments,

she was runner-up,
once or twice.

We got good at a game

that had social demands on it

before we had met
the social requirements.

Tennis had Althea moving
faster than her social skills
could keep up with.

If you were a good
tennis player,
you got invited.

First you got invited
by the well-off blacks

and then you got invited
by the whites and next year
you get the exposure

and the exposure but then
it's taking you further
and further and further out

and then at some point,

it snaps.

And you'd left
your home base.

Althea was a Virgo,
she was very self-critical

and very socially,

you know, standoffish,

and so

her personality played
a great part in her,

her life also.

You know she wasn't
a gregarious type person.

She didn't go out of her way
to be social and to be,
you know what I mean?

And so if you could get
to her and get to know her

then you would see that you
might like Althea but...

She wasn't gonna, you know...
She wasn't that easy
to approach.

There was some resentment
that, um, you know,

when she was in the limelight
people were clamoring
after her,

they wanted to hear from her,
they wanted to see her.

And, you know,
gradually that died.

It meant a lot and I think
it hurt her feelings.

CARRINGTON:
Althea was the champ
1957 and 58

and so it was one thing for
her to be African-American.

It was another thing for her,
you know,

for any questions
to be involved
with her sexuality.

I don't want to be the one
to say but, you know,

how or what her sexual
preferences were, that's real.

You know, um,

I never hear anybody
mention it,

I don't know
how you could talk
about Althea Gibson

and not talk
about the whole person

without putting her down.
I have no judgment of it

but this is...
Why lie about who she was?

BUXTON: If anybody
had the slightest suspicion
that she was a lesbian

just because she was
an outsider is too ridiculous
for words.

There were no husbands
around, really,

'cause once you got married,
that was it, you see,

you hang your rackets up.

You know, the girls
used to travel in twos,

keep each other company.

She liked men
and she liked sex with men

and that was the beginning
and end of it.

CARRINGTON: I think
that people neglect
to really look at

why Althea
had such a rough time,

you know, after her tennis
life, after her golf life.

Every woman athlete gets
accused of being a lesbian.

Every single one. Are they?
Isn't that pathetic.

I think she knew
that no matter what she did

it was gonna come
under scrutiny.

It was gonna be an object
or a subject

for, um, people to,
you know, make judgments
on her.

This was something
that quietly traveled
behind her.

Aside from all of her
blackness and this
and other things,

if you put that with it,
I guess,

you end up with a sad story.

As time went on, Althea
got more and more depressed

and more and more reclusive

until you just, by the time
you got to the '90s,

she had dropped
completely off the scene

and she was neglected
by everybody.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

BUXTON: One Friday morning,
I was cooking,

preparing for the Sabbath
meal, my phone went

in the living room
and I went to answer it
and it was Althea.

And she just phoned
up to say, "Goodbye."

And I said, "So where
are you going to?"

So she said, "Well,
Angie baby," she said,

"I can't hang around
any longer," she said,

"I haven't gotten
any more money,

"I've gone through
all my savings.

"Life really doesn't
seem worth living,

"so I'm just saying
goodbye to all my friends."

I said, "I'll call
you right back,

"don't go anywhere."

After I called her back,

I said, "Now, why are you
going to commit suicide?"

And then she told me
that she had run out of money,

she had no money for the rent

and no money for food
and no money for medical.

She was living from
hand to mouth all her life.

JEANNE MOUTOUSSAMY-ASHE:
When she won one of
her Wimbledon titles,

the Queen was there.

She said, "You know, I got
my trophy form the Queen,

"and then I curtsied,
and I backed away."

And she said,

"Because you never
turn your back on royalty."

Althea was
US royalty in tennis,

but the tennis world

definitely turned
their back on her.

TERRY: I think she felt that

every time someone
wanted something from her,

they would. you know,
call her, contact her,

but any other time, you know,
she didn't hear anything,

it was only when
they needed her.

And she, you know,
got to the point where

she didn't want to
be used anymore.

My uncle's personality
was a little more passive,

a little more laid back,

and I think the limelight
was not something

that he really embraced
like she could.

They ended getting divorced,

but they always
kept a friendship,

they always kept
a love for each other.

BUXTON: She felt, I think,
that Sydney Llewellyn

had done a lot for her
in the past.

As far as I could make out,
that's all there was to it.

They were just
very good friends.

CARRINGTON: Sydney Llewellyn
couldn't travel with Althea

when she won Wimbledon.

One year, they paid for
all the former champs

and their spouses to come,

so she married him so he
could go as her spouse.

BUXTON: The love of her life
was with Darben,

because he came back
into her life again

at the very end.
He was living in a home

which happened to be near
her home in South Orange.

And every day they would
meet at a diner for a meal,

go for a walk, and so on.

And when he passed away,
which he did before her,

that's when she
really went down fast.

The only time, frankly,
that I ever really saw

Althea lose her temper,
really she lost it,

out at the US Open.

Each year, they
had the champions

come for a certain day.

She had invited her
doubles partner Angie

from London to lunch,

and had made a
reservation at Rackets,

which is an exclusive
restaurant within.

Angie came, Althea go upstairs
to take Angie to lunch,

and she was turned away.

Turned away.

This is championship day

and you don't know
who Althea Gibson is?

Her reactions
were such that...

This is, uh, final insult.

BUXTON: Nobody bothered
to come to her rescue.

I think I was the last stop.

And I decided, no way was
she gonna commit suicide,

not while I was around.

And I said to her, "How
much are we talking about?

"How much money
do you need to live?"

And she said, "$1,500
would about cover a month."

So I said, "Okay, look,
I'll send you that,

"and you just
hold your horses.

"And in the meantime
I'll think of another way,"

which I did.

This letter appeared
in Tennis Week,

the week of July 18th, 1996,
and signed by Paul Fein.

(READING)

"Overcoming the racism
and discrimination
that confronted her,

"Althea Gibson became our
sport's first black champion.

"And she always represented

"her county and her
race and her sport

"with great dignity and pride.

"Now she's financially
destitute and dispirited.

"She may not last much longer.

"Very few people
seemed to care,"

"and our sport doesn't
have a pension plan

"to help our former champions
in needy times.

"You can help avert
a needless tragedy

"by sending her what you can.

"Althea Gibson titled her
poignant autobiography

I Always Wanted
to Be Somebody.

"She was and is a somebody,
somebody very special."

Five months later
the phone rings,

and it's Althea.

"Angela, how are you?"

Fine.

"I've just been down to
my P.O. box," she says,

and she says, "I've had to
have the manager open it."

She said, "The place
is absolutely blocked,

"and it's got money in it
from all over the world

"in different currencies.

"Is this to do with you?"

I said, "Me?
How could it be me?"

I said, "I'm sitting here

"minding my own
business in England.

"Oh," she said, "It just
smells of you somehow."

She said,
"I thought it was you."

I flew over the
following week.

I went to Orange.
I helped open all the
envelopes with her.

They were
all different currencies,

and all different amounts,

from players who had
remembered her

and fans who had watched her

and enjoyed watching her
all over the world.

And it was well over
a million dollars.

Well over.

ALLEN: In some people's
houses,

they have certain
people's pictures.

Particularity in
African-American houses

you'll think that
there's, like, a picture

of Martin Luther King
on the wall,

maybe a picture of John
F. Kennedy on the wall,

a picture of
Jesus Christ on the wall.

What I can
remember growing up,

on the top
of our television set,

was an autographed
picture of Althea.

TERRY: They're buried
together. Cremated remains
are together

in the same grave.

So she did want to be
buried beside him.

There's a plaque
with his name on it,

because she did not
want to have any marker.

There might've been
some bitterness in Althea,

in that she didn't,
uh, necessarily

feel she was given her due
for what she did.

I have to remind people

talking about Arthur being
the first African-American

to win Wimbledon.

And I was always
quick to correct people.

No, no, no, no, no, he was the
first African-American male.

But, um, people forget
that Althea came first.