Breaking Tennis' Color Barrier at the U.S. National Championships
Explore the relationship between Alice Marble and Althea Gibson and the fight for racial equality at the U.S. National Tennis Championships.
Fred Perry in action at the U.S. Nationals, West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills (1933/1937) by unidentified International Tennis Hall of Fame
Where "whites only" meant more than just clothing in tennis
Ever since the first U.S. National Tennis Championships were played in 1881, the premier tournament in the country was accessible to only White players. Black players tried to gain access to competition but were rebuffed by the USLTA's racist policies.
Meet Alice Marble
Alice Marble was an American tennis player who had a very successful amateur tennis career between 1931 and 1940. During this time, she won a total of 18 major titles. She was the World No. 1 player in 1939, and the Associated Press named her Athlete of the Year in 1939 and 1940.
Portrait of Alice Marble by Alan Reingold International Tennis Hall of Fame
Becoming a trusted voice
Marble turned professional in 1941. During World War II, she used her tennis celebrity to support the American war effort. After the war, she helped popularize the sport among a wider audience through the pages of American Lawn Tennis magazine.
Chipping away at the barrier
By the mid-1940s, Black tennis players were beginning to break through the barriers established by mainstream tennis for so long. Althea Gibson was dominating the American Tennis Association (ATA) tour and was keen to bring her game to the USLTA's doorstep. But they resisted.
Portrait of Alice Marble by Alan Reingold International Tennis Hall of Fame
Showing solidarity
In July of 1950, Alice Marble showed support for Althea Gibson and other Black tennis players who were fighting for opportunities to compete in USLTA-sanctioned tournaments.
Calling out discrimination
Marble wrote an editorial in American Lawn Tennis
, which spoke out against the USLTA and their unfair practices regarding athletes of color.
“If tennis is a game for ladies and gentlemen, it’s also time we acted a little more like gentlepeople and less like sanctimonious hypocrites... If Althea Gibson represents a challenge to the present crop of players, then it’s only fair that they meet this challenge on the courts,” Alice Marble (American Lawn Tennis, July 1950)
Althea Gibson preparing to hit a shot International Tennis Hall of Fame
Meet Althea Gibson
Though Althea Gibson had the talent, she needed access to compete at the “invitation-only” outdoor tune-up events held at private clubs to “prove” to the USLTA that she was a competitor worthy of stepping onto the courts at the 1950 U.S. National Championships.
Althea Gibson
Gibson’s perseverance, along with Marble’s letter, prompted the organization to allow Gibson a well-deserved place at the U.S. National Championships that summer. She became the first Black player, male or female, to play in the U.S. Nationals at Forest Hills.
1950 U.S. National Women's Championships
Though Gibson fell to Louise Brough (shown at right) in the second round, she had opened the doors for other Black players to follow her lead.
Althea Gibson in action at Wimbledon by Arthur Cole International Tennis Hall of Fame
Gibson’s inclusion in America’s biggest tennis event wasn’t just about gaining acceptance in the sporting world, but seen as a momentum builder for blacks in the game of life.
WATCH: Althea Gibson - Racial and Gender Dynamics in Tennis
2021 Presentation at the International Tennis Hall of Fame by Damion Thomas (Curator of Sports for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Moderated by Katrina Adams, past President, Chairperson, and CEO of the United States Tennis Association.
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