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Brief Synopsis
Althea Gibson was born August 25, 1927 in Silver, SC. She grew up in Harlem, NY. She came from a background that was
not of wealth. Fortunately she came to the attention of Dr. Walter Johnson, a Lynchburg, VA physician, who was active in the
black tennis community and who became patron in the world of tennis.
Althea was the first African woman to win the Grand Slam championships at the wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian
Open (doubles) and the US Open in the late 1950,s.
Althea's legacy lives, not only in the stadiums of professional tournaments, but also in schools and parks throughout
nation.
The Mission
The Althea Gibson Foundation is here to serve all the needs of any youth who wish to develop skills in the sports
of tennis or golf. Over the years they have taken our children away from the streets of crime and violence
in the everyday life and created a fun or challenging career opportunity for them.
The foundation believe
everyone deserves their dream and should always see themselves as somebody. Althea once quoted "I always wanted to be somebody.
If I made it, it's half because I was game enough to take a lot of punishment along the way and half because there were a
lot of people who cared enough to help me."
Althea never wanted to be put on a pedestal. She just want to be reasonably successful and live a normal life with
all the conveniences to make it so. She knew she already had the main thing she always wanted, which was
to be somebody, to have identity. I quote "I'm Althea Gibson, the tennis champion. I hope it makes me happy."
The foundation will continue, under her right hand and CEO, Ms Fran Clayton Gray.
The CEO, Ms. Fran Clayton Gray has been doing a wonderful job with the organization.
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