62-523: Branch Brook Park is a county park of Essex County, New Jersey . It is located in the North Ward of Newark , between the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Roseville . A portion of the park is also located within the Township of Belleville. At 360 acres (150 ha), Branch Brook Park is the largest public park in the city of Newark . The park is noted for the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in
124-577: A Catholic protective shelter for abused children. In 1940, a group of Gibson's neighbors took up a collection to finance a junior membership and lessons at the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. At first, Gibson didn't like tennis, a sport she thought was for weak people. As she explained, "I kept wanting to fight the other player every time I started to lose a match." In 1941, she entered—and won—her first tournament,
186-744: A $ 25 million ten-year restoration program. In 2004, the Park Avenue bridge was repaired, as were the baseball fields in the center of the park. In 2007, a plan was created to provide for more than 5,000 cherry trees in the park and renovate and rename the Welcome Center. The plan uses a $ 650,000 grant from the Essex County Recreation and the Open Space Trust Fund from 2006 and private donations. In 2012, statues dedicated to sports figures Althea Gibson and Roberto Clemente were unveiled in
248-463: A 1977 historical analysis of women in sports, The New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden wrote, Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph are, without question, the most significant athletic forces among Black women in sports history. While Rudolph's accomplishments brought more visibility to women as athletes ... Althea's accomplishments were more revolutionary because of the psychosocial impact on Black America. Even to those Blacks who hadn't
310-542: A Grand Slam championship; and 43 years until another African-American woman, Serena Williams , won the first of her six US Opens in 1999, not long after faxing a letter and list of questions to Gibson. Serena's sister Venus then won back-to-back titles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2000 and 2001, repeating Gibson's accomplishment of 1957 and 1958. A decade after Gibson's last triumph at the US Nationals, Arthur Ashe became
372-645: A celebrity guest on the TV panel show What's My Line? and was cast as an enslaved woman in the John Ford motion picture The Horse Soldiers (1959), which was notable for her refusal to speak in the stereotypic "Negro" dialect mandated by the script. She also worked as a sports commentator, appeared in print and television advertisements for various products, and increased her involvement in social issues and community activities. In 1960, her first memoir, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody , written with sportswriter Ed Fitzgerald ,
434-493: A cotton farm. The Great Depression hit rural southern farmers sooner than much of the rest of the country, so in 1930 the family moved to Harlem as part of the Great Migration , where Althea's three sisters and brother were born. Their apartment was located on a stretch of 143rd Street (between Lenox Avenue and Seventh Avenue ) that had been designated a Police Athletic League play area; during daylight hours it
496-468: A difference." In 1959, shortly after retiring, Gibson appeared in the John Ford film, The Horse Soldiers , playing the secondary, but pivotal, role of Lukey, the housekeeper (and slave) to Miss Hannah Hunter, mistress of Greenbriar Plantation. Lukey's dialog was originally written in "Negro" dialect that Gibson found offensive. She informed Ford that she would not deliver her lines as written. Though Ford
558-419: A few days after her 23rd birthday. Although she lost narrowly in the second round in a rain-delayed, three-set match to Louise Brough , the reigning Wimbledon champion and former US National winner, her participation received extensive national and international coverage. "No Negro player, man or woman, has ever set foot on one of these courts", wrote journalist Lester Rodney at the time. "In many ways, it
620-528: A first-hand perspective." Gibson, for her part, strengthened her confidence immeasurably during the six-week tour. When it was over, she remained abroad, winning 16 of 18 tournaments in Europe and Asia against many of the world's best players. On May 27, 1956, Gibson became the first African-American athlete to win a Grand Slam tournament when she won the French Championships singles event. She also won
682-596: A full athletic scholarship and was a member of the Beta Alpha chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Despite her growing reputation as an elite-level player, Gibson was effectively barred from entering the premier American tournament, the United States National Championships (now the US Open ) at Forest Hills . While USTA rules officially prohibited racial or ethnic discrimination, players qualified for
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#1732884604133744-501: A goodwill tour of Asia in 1955 to play exhibition matches with Ham Richardson , Bob Perry, and Karol Fageros . Many Asians in the countries they visited— Burma , Ceylon , India , Pakistan , and Thailand —"felt an affinity to Althea as a woman of color and were delighted to see her as part of an official US delegation. In the United States team grappling over the question of race, they turned to Althea for answers, or at least to get
806-456: A public appropriation financed the conversion of the swamp into a landscaped lake. The initial park was only 60 acres (24 ha) in size but grew in the 1920s through private donations from prominent Newark families, such as the Ballantines, eventually reaching the city limit with Belleville and becoming one of the largest urban parks in the United States. The Morris Canal originally ran on
868-546: A series of exhibition matches against Fageros before Harlem Globetrotter basketball games. When the tour ended she won the singles and doubles titles at the Pepsi Cola World Pro Tennis Championships in Cleveland , but received only $ 500 in prize money. During this period, Gibson also pursued her long-held aspirations in the entertainment industry. A talented vocalist and saxophonist—and runner-up in
930-510: Is always a part of the problem; the winner is always a part of the answer. The loser always has an excuse; the winner always has a program. The loser says it may be possible , but it's difficult; the winner says it may be difficult , but it's possible. —Althea Gibson, 1991 Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in the town of Silver, in Clarendon County , South Carolina , to Daniel and Annie Bell Gibson, who worked as sharecroppers on
992-600: Is even a tougher personal Jim Crow -busting assignment than was Jackie Robinson 's when he first stepped out of the Brooklyn Dodgers dugout." In 1951, Gibson won her first international title, the Caribbean Championships in Jamaica, and later that year became one of the first Black competitors at Wimbledon, where she was defeated in the third round by Beverly Baker . In 1952 she was ranked seventh nationally by
1054-596: The All-England Club , based on her status as a Wimbledon champion, but was never accepted. (Her doubles partner, Angela Buxton, who was Jewish , was also repeatedly denied membership.) In 1964, at the age of 37, Gibson became the first African-American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. Racial discrimination continued to be a problem: many hotels still excluded people of color, and country club officials throughout
1116-575: The American Tennis Association (ATA) New York State Championship. She won the ATA national championship in the girls' division in 1944 and 1945, and after losing in the women's final in 1946, won her first of ten straight national ATA women's titles in 1947. "I knew that I was an unusual, talented girl, through the grace of God," she wrote. "I didn't need to prove that to myself. I only wanted to prove it to my opponents." Gibson's ATA success drew
1178-653: The Apollo Theater 's amateur talent contest in 1943 —she made her professional singing debut at W. C. Handy 's 84th-birthday tribute at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1957. An executive from Dot Records was impressed with her performance, and signed her to record an album of popular standards. Althea Gibson Sings was released in 1959, and Gibson performed two of its songs on The Ed Sullivan Show in May and July of that year, but sales were disappointing. She appeared as
1240-973: The Open Era there was no prize money at major tournaments, and direct endorsement deals were prohibited. Players were limited to expense allowances, strictly regulated by the USTA. "The truth, to put it bluntly, is that my finances were in heartbreaking shape," she wrote. "Being the Queen of Tennis is all well and good, but you can't eat a crown. Nor can you send the Internal Revenue Service a throne clipped to their tax forms. The landlord and grocer and tax collector are funny that way: they like cold cash... I reign over an empty bank account, and I'm not going to fill it by playing amateur tennis." Professional tours for women were still 15 years away, so her opportunities were largely limited to promotional events. In 1959, she signed to play
1302-639: The United States Postal Service . The neighborhood on the east side of the park, Forest Hill , is Newark's most affluent. Also on the east side of the park is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Basilica , one of the largest cathedrals in the United States. It has been placed on both the New Jersey (1980) and National (1981) Registers of Historic Places. In 1999 Branch Brook Park began
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#17328846041331364-723: The 36th in its Black Heritage series. A documentary titled Althea , produced for the American Masters Series on PBS , premiered in September 2015. In November 2017, the Council of Paris inaugurated the Gymnase Althea Gibson , a public multisport gymnasium in the 12th arrondissement of Paris . Gibson will be honored on a U.S. quarter in 2025 as part of the final year of the American Women quarters program. In 2018,
1426-694: The Democratic primary for his seat. She came in second behind Dodd, but ahead of Assemblyman Eldridge Hawkins . Gibson went on to manage the Department of Recreation in East Orange, New Jersey . She also served on the State Athletic Control Board and became supervisor of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Gibson attempted a golf comeback, in 1987, at age 60, with the goal of becoming
1488-591: The Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina . and Florida A&M University. In 2012, a bronze statue , created by sculptor Thomas Jay Warren, was dedicated at Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey near the courts named in her honor where she ran clinics for young players in her later years. In August 2013, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Gibson,
1550-985: The National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame , the Florida Sports Hall of Fame , the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey , the New Jersey Hall of Fame , the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, and the National Women's Hall of Fame . She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1988. In 1991, Gibson became
1612-455: The Nationals by accumulating points at sanctioned tournaments, most of which were held at white-only clubs. In 1950, in response to intense lobbying by ATA officials and retired champion Alice Marble - who published a scathing open letter in the magazine American Lawn Tennis - Gibson became the first Black player to receive an invitation to the Nationals, where she made her Forest Hills debut
1674-508: The USTA unanimously voted to erect a statue honoring Gibson at Flushing Meadows, site of the US Open. The statue, created by sculptor Eric Goulder and unveiled in 2019, is only the second Flushing Meadows monument erected in honor of a champion. "Althea reoriented the world and changed our perceptions of what is possible," said Goulder. "We are still struggling. But she broke the ground." "I hope that I have accomplished just one thing", she said, in her 1958 retirement speech, "that I have been
1736-566: The USTA. In the spring of 1953 she graduated from Florida A&M and took a job teaching physical education at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri . During her two years at Lincoln she became romantically involved with an Army officer whom she never named publicly, and considered enlisting in the Women's Army Corps . She decided against it when the State Department sent her on
1798-520: The United States and the world in both 1957 and 1958, and was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years, garnering over 80% of the votes in 1958. She also became the first Black woman to appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time . In late 1958, having won 56 national and international singles and doubles titles, Gibson retired from amateur tennis. Prior to
1860-471: The United States, having over 5,000 in more than eighteen different varieties collectively called Cherryblossomland , as well as its spectacular Cherry Blossom Festival each April. The area had served as an Army training ground during the American Civil War . At the time, the northern portion of the area had been a marsh known as Old Blue Jay Swamp. In 1867, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux ,
1922-454: The Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam titles: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived," said Bob Ryland , a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams ." Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." Gibson
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1984-623: The attention of Walter Johnson , a Lynchburg, Virginia , physician who was active in the African American tennis community. Under Johnson's patronage - he would later mentor Arthur Ashe as well - Gibson gained access to more advanced instruction and more important competitions, and later, to the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA, later known as the USTA). In 1946, she moved to Wilmington, North Carolina , under
2046-835: The auspices of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The Althea Gibson Foundation identifies and supports gifted golf and tennis players who live in urban environments. In 2005 Gibson's friend Bill Cosby endowed the Althea Gibson Scholarship at her alma mater, Florida A&M University. In September 2009, Wilmington, North Carolina, named its new community tennis court facility the Althea Gibson Tennis Complex at Empie Park. Other tennis facilities named in her honor include those at Manning High School (near her birthplace in Silver, South Carolina),
2108-594: The colored section of the bus." She won the doubles championship as well, for the second year. Upon her return home Gibson became only the second Black American, after Jesse Owens , to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City, and Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. presented her with the Bronze Medallion , the city's highest civilian award. A month later she defeated Louise Brough in straight sets to win her first US National Championship. "Winning Wimbledon
2170-518: The designers of Central Park , presented their report on the site to the Board of Commissioners of the Newark Park. It recommended Concourse Hill, with its commanding views of Newark and distant Manhattan, as the best location for the park. The park was formally created almost three decades later, in 1895, by the newly created Essex County Parks Commission , making it the nation's first county park. In 1898,
2232-840: The doubles title, partnered with Briton Angela Buxton . Later in the season she won the Wimbledon doubles championship (again with Buxton), the Italian Championships in Rome, the Indian Championships in New Delhi and the Asian championship in Ceylon. She also reached the quarter-finals in singles at Wimbledon and the finals at the US Nationals, losing both to Shirley Fry . The 1957 season was, in her own words, "Althea Gibson's year". In July, Gibson
2294-555: The first African-American man to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1968 US Open . Billie Jean King said, "If it hadn't been for [Althea], it wouldn't have been so easy for Arthur, or the ones who followed." In 1980, Gibson became one of the first six inductees into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame , placing her on par with such pioneers as Amelia Earhart , Wilma Rudolph , Gertrude Ederle , Babe Didrikson Zaharias , and Patty Berg . Other inductions included
2356-483: The first Black player on the US Wightman Cup team, which defeated Great Britain 6–1 . With Gibson winning her last 55 matches of the season, plus her first 2 matches in 1958, she won 57 matches in a row. In 1958, Gibson successfully defended her Wimbledon and US National singles titles, and won her third straight Wimbledon doubles championship, with a third different partner. She was the number-one-ranked woman in
2418-542: The first time, Althea touches another life. When she began playing, less than five percent of tennis newcomers were minorities. Today, some 30 percent are minorities, two-thirds of whom are African American. This is her legacy. Gibson's five Wimbledon trophies are displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History . The Althea Gibson Cup seniors tournament is held annually in Croatia , under
2480-501: The first woman in the country to hold such a role, but resigned after one year due to lack of autonomy, budgetary oversight, and inadequate funding. "I don't wish to be a figurehead", she said. In 1976, Gibson made it to the finals of the ABC television program Superstars , finishing first in basketball shooting and bowling, and runner-up in softball throwing. In 1977, Gibson challenged incumbent Essex County State Senator Frank J. Dodd in
2542-584: The first woman to receive the Theodore Roosevelt Award , the highest honor from the National Collegiate Athletic Association ; she was cited for "symbolizing the best qualities of competitive excellence and good sportsmanship, and for her significant contributions to expanding opportunities for women and minorities through sports." Sports Illustrated for Women named her to its list of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes". In
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2604-412: The late 1980s, Gibson's health began to decline after she suffered two cerebral hemorrhages , followed by a stroke in 1992. The resulting medical expenses led to significant financial difficulties. Despite reaching out to several tennis organizations for assistance, she did not receive any support. Her situation came to light when former doubles partner Angela Buxton publicly shared Gibson's plight with
2666-506: The next three decades, and coached numerous rising competitors, including Leslie Allen and Zina Garrison . "She pushed me as if I were a pro, not a junior," wrote Garrison in her 2001 memoir. "I owe the opportunity I received to her." In the early 1970s, Gibson began directing women's sports and recreation for the Essex County Parks Commission in New Jersey . In 1976, she was appointed New Jersey's athletic commissioner,
2728-590: The oldest active tour player, but was unable to regain her tour card. In a second memoir, So Much to Live For , she articulated her disappointments, including unfulfilled aspirations, the paucity of endorsements and other professional opportunities, and the many obstacles of all sorts that were thrown in her path over the years. Althea Gibson married William Darben in 1965, and the couple divorced in 1976. In 1983, she married Sydney Llewellyn, who had been her coach during her prime tennis years, but that marriage also ended in divorce. Gibson did not have any children. In
2790-587: The park's west side, until its old bed was turned into the Newark City Subway , providing access to the park from Downtown Newark . The first designs of the park, based largely on romantic garden themes, were proposed in 1895 and 1898, after the Parks Commission hired several architectural firms to plan the park. In 1900, the commission hired the Olmsted Brothers firm to redesign the park. The result
2852-646: The park. In 2013 the park was in the final phase of the restoration plan. Essex County Park System The Essex County Park System comprises the county-run parks of Essex County , New Jersey . The Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs is in charge of the upkeep and preservation of the parks , reservations and a number of other facilities, including golf courses and trails . 40°45′12″N 74°10′41″W / 40.753323°N 74.177982°W / 40.753323; -74.177982 Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003)
2914-403: The result of a 1927 gift from Caroline Bamberger Fuld , sister of department store magnate Louis Bamberger and widow of the store's vice president. The Cherry Blossom Festival attracts approximately 10,000 visitors each April. Branch Brook Park also features a lake and a pond. During World War II , the park's grounds served a tent city for recruits, as well as a landing strip for airplanes of
2976-430: The slightest idea of where or what Wimbledon was, her victory, like Jackie Robinson's in baseball and Jack Johnson 's in boxing, proved again that Blacks, when given an opportunity, could compete at any level in American society. On opening night of the 2007 US Open , the 50th anniversary of her first victory at its predecessor, the US National Championships, Gibson was inducted into the US Open Court of Champions. "It
3038-473: The south—and some in the north—routinely refused to allow her to compete. When she did compete, she was often forced to dress for tournaments in her car because she was banned from the clubhouse. Although she was one of the LPGA's top 50 money winners for five years, and won a car at a Dinah Shore tournament, her lifetime golf earnings did not exceed $ 25,000. While she broke course records during individual rounds in several tournaments, Gibson's highest ranking
3100-409: The sponsorship of another physician and tennis activist, Hubert A. Eaton and enrolled at the racially segregated Williston Industrial High School . In 1949, she became the first Black woman, and the second Black athlete (after Reginald Weir ), to play in the USTA's National Indoor Championships, where she reached the quarter-finals. Later that year she entered Florida A&M University (FAMU) on
3162-436: The tennis community, successfully raising nearly $ 1 million in donations from supporters worldwide. Gibson survived a heart attack in 2003, but passed away on September 28 of that year due to complications from respiratory and bladder infections. Her body was interred in the Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, New Jersey , near her first husband, Will. It was 15 years until another non-White woman— Evonne Goolagong , in 1971, won
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#17328846041333224-414: Was 27th in 1966, and her best tournament finish was a tie for second after a three-way playoff at the 1970 Len Immke Buick Open . She retired from professional golf at the end of the 1978 season. "Althea might have been a real player of consequence had she started when she was young," said Judy Rankin . "She came along during a difficult time in golf, gained the support of a lot of people, and quietly made
3286-404: Was an American tennis player and professional golfer , and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam event (the French Open ). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals (precursor of the US Open ), then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of
3348-428: Was an inspiration, because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were Black." said former New York City Mayor David Dinkins . "I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps," wrote Venus Williams. "Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on." The loser
3410-533: Was barricaded so that neighborhood children could play organized sports. Gibson quickly became proficient in paddle tennis , and by 1939, at the age of 12, she was the New York City women's paddle tennis champion. Gibson quit school at the age of 13 and, using the boxing skills taught to her by her father, engaged in a life of what she would later refer to as "street fighting", girls basketball, and watching movies. Fearful of her father's violent behavior, after dropping out of school, she spent some time living in
3472-488: Was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. In the early 1960s, she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour . At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to Jackie Robinson . "Her road to success was a challenging one," said Billie Jean King "but I never saw her back down." "To anyone, she
3534-510: Was notorious for his intolerance of actors' demands, he agreed to modify the script. In 1968, with the advent of the Open Era, Gibson began entering major tennis tournaments again; but by then—in her forties—she was unable to compete effectively against younger players. In 1972, Gibson began running Pepsi Cola's national mobile tennis project, which brought portable nets and other equipment to underprivileged areas in major cities. She ran multiple other clinics and tennis outreach programs over
3596-490: Was published. Her professional tennis career, however, was going nowhere. "When I looked around me, I saw that white tennis players, some of whom I had thrashed on the court, were picking up offers and invitations," she wrote. "Suddenly it dawned on me that my triumphs had not destroyed the racial barriers once and for all, as I had—perhaps naively—hoped. Or if I did destroy them, they had been erected behind me again." She also noted that she repeatedly applied for membership in
3658-407: Was seeded first at Wimbledon - considered at the time the "world championship of tennis" - and defeated Darlene Hard in the finals for the singles title. She was the first Black champion in the tournament's 80-year history, and the first champion to receive the trophy personally from Queen Elizabeth II . "Shaking hands with the Queen of England," she said "was a long way from being forced to sit in
3720-566: Was the park's current naturalistic look and feel, with acres of meadows and forests, in a manner similar to their father's earlier designs of Central Park and Prospect Park . The park is home to many architecturally significant structures, including bridges, buildings, gates, and sculptures. Many of these were designed by the beaux-arts architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings headed by John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings . The pair designed two Subway Bridges now referred to as Subway 1, East and Subway 2, West. The famous cherry trees were
3782-411: Was the quiet dignity with which Althea carried herself during the turbulent days of the 1950s that was truly remarkable," said USTA president Alan Schwartz, at the ceremony: [Her] legacy ... lives on, not only in the stadiums of professional tournaments, but also in schools and parks throughout the nation. Every time a Black child or a Hispanic child or an Islamic child picks up a tennis racket for
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#17328846041333844-474: Was wonderful," she wrote, "and it meant a lot to me, but there is nothing quite like winning the championship of your own country." In all, she reached the finals of eight Grand Slam events in 1957, winning the Wimbledon and US National singles titles, the Wimbledon and Australian doubles championships, and the US mixed doubles crown, and finishing second in Australian singles, US doubles, and Wimbledon mixed doubles. At season's end she broke yet another barrier as
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