| August 25, 1927 |
Althea Gibson born in Silver, South Carolina.
|
| 1930 |
Moves to New York City.
|
| 1941 |
Starts taking tennis lessons at Harlem's Cosmopolitan Club.
|
| 1942 |
Enters and wins her first tournament, sponsored by the
all-black American Tennis Association (ATA).
|
| 1946 |
Moves to Wilmington, North Carolina, to work on her tennis
game with Dr. Hubert A. Eaton; enrolls in high school there.
|
| 1947 |
Wins the first of ten straight ATA National Championships.
|
| 1949 |
Competes against white players for the first time, enrolls at
Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.
|
| 1950 |
Enters her first outdoor United States Lawn Tennis
Association (USLTA) tournaments; plays in the U.S. National Tennis Championships at Forest
Hills.
|
| 1951 |
Competes in the All-England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon
for the first time.
|
| 1953 |
Graduates from Florida A&M; moves to Jefferson City,
Missouri.
|
| 1954 |
Starts working with tennis coach Sydney
Llewellyn.
|
| 1955-56 |
Travels throughout Southeast Asia on a U.S. State
Department-sponsored goodwill tennis tour.
|
| 1956 |
Wins the French Championships; tours the Australian tennis
tournament circuit.
|
| 1957 |
Wins the All-England Championships at Wimbledon and the U.S.
National Tennis Championships at Forest Hills.
|
| 1958 |
Wins Wimbledon and Forest Hills; retires from amateur tennis.
|
| 1959 |
Releases a record album, Althea Gibson Sings;
appears in a film, The Horse Soldiers.
|
| 1960 |
Tours with the Harlem Globetrotters playing exhibition
tennis.
|
| 1964 |
Launches her professional golf career; joins the Ladies
Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
|
| 1965 |
Marries Will Darben
|
1971 |
Retires from professional golf; starts a career as a
professional tennis player.
|
1975 |
Takes a job as manager of the East Orange, New Jersey,
Department of Recreation.
|
|
2003 |
September 23, 2003,
Althea dies in East Orange, New Jersey
|
