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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC studios in SoHo. Hey, a week from today, just a reminder, tickets are still available for this month's Get Lit with All Of It book club event. We are reading The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. Tananarive Due will be joining us for a live in-person event at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on February 28th. That's next Wednesday. E-copies are available to borrow, thanks to our partners at the library. For tickets and links to borrow the book, head to wnyc.org/getlit. Of course, you can pick it up from your local independent booksellers.

I know people who are reading it are really enjoying it, and we really look forward to seeing you next week. Now, we continue our full bio Black History Month mashup about the great Althea Gibson.

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Alison Stewart: This week on Full Bio, we've been discussing Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson by Sally Jacobs. She broke the color barrier in tennis in 1950 and went on to win 11 Grand Slam titles. Growing up in Harlem as a young girl, she took up tennis after a police athletic league set up a paddle tennis court on her block when she was a kid. Gibson's skill was undeniable, and she caught the eye of important people in the Black tennis world. You can hear the details about all of that in parts one and two on demand.

Althea Gibson broke the color barrier in tennis, but it's an interesting thing when she did step onto the courts, a Black woman at Forest Hills in 1950, in Wimbledon in 1951. She didn't win the first time, but it was a win for Black athletes and a signal to the world. It wasn't until 1957 and '58, she would make history by taking home both titles. Here she is after winning Wimbleton with a little joke at a press conference.

Althea Gibson: Reminds me of the joke between the devil and the Lord. The devil got a bright idea in his head one day, and he went up to the Lord and said, "I'd like to have a tennis match with you and those that you have." The Lord looked at him and said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Sure, I'm serious." He said, "You must be kidding." He said, "No. Well, will you agree to it? Will you, won't you?" He said, "Well, how can you win? You can't win. I have all the best players up here. I have Tony Trabert, I have Gardnar Mulloy, I have Vic Seixas. Holding all those players, how can you win?"

He says, "Do you agree to a tennis match with me?" He says, "Well, I know that you don't have a chance. Yes, I agree, but tell me, how do you think you can win?" The devil said, "Well, you may have all the best tennis players in the world, but I got all the umpires and the linesmen down here."

Alison Stewart: It's a knowing joke. Mainstream tennis associations did not want to let her in and the press had a field day thinking up ways to describe her, like Negros and the like. Let's get back into it with Sally Jacobs, author of Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson.

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Alison Stewart: Before we talk about Forest Hills and the Wimbledon, I want to talk about the press a little bit. The press and Althea Gibson. When did the press first pick up on her that she would be a good news story?

Sally Jacobs: Oh, I think from day one as soon as Althea starts playing in the ATA, the Black Press starts following her. She's the champion. She's the one who's going to go break down that door to the USLTA. They're on it immediately. Now, in some ways, they too had a complicated relationship with Althea. She did not love talking to the press. She had a number of really bad exchanges with them, fights over different incidents.

In the beginning, the Black press was behind her. There were a number of Black papers, Chicago, Amsterdam News. Fortunately, you can have access to all of them. It was really easy to see how the Black community viewed her. Many, many editorials. They were with her all together. That didn't last. By 1953, when she's at college, she graduates in '53, her playing is not so good because she's been in school, because she's graduated now, she's not playing so much, and they turn on her a little bit. They don't really like her attitude.

Jet Magazine, in 1953, one of the most prominent Black magazines dubs her the biggest flop, and the rest of the press crowds around. "She's got a bad attitude. She's not appreciative." That takes a while to correct, but it does. By the time she starts winning up the time, 1956, she wins her first Grand Slam. They're back on board. There would be more struggles in later years. In 1957, it's her year. She wins Wimbledon. She wins the US National Championship, as it's called, but the press is still having a struggle with her because after she wins Wimbledon, she heads to a tournament in Chicago where she is brutally stopped at Oak Park outside of downtown Chicago.

She cannot go to a hotel. This is Althea Gibson who just won Wimbledon. She can't stay there. She can't have lunch at the hotel where she's booked it. She has to go to a hotel 12 miles away. A reporter for Time Magazine had heard about this and writes about it, but Althea would not say boo. Would she open her mouth and say "goddammit" nothing. She knew that if she started complaining that it was going to create a whole nother chapter of complications for her, and she didn't want to do it. Althea was very single focused for better or worse. The Black community, the Black press did not like it.

Alison Stewart: Yes. Reading about the Black press going back and forth and how personal some of the articles got it, it reminded me of Twitter, in many ways.

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Sally Jacobs: That was a bad episode, for sure.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about the white press. I mean, some of the headlines were astonishing to read. You know they were of the time. She was called a negress, the colored one, but there was one Life Magazine piece titled The New Tennis Threat. What was the tone of that piece, given that provocative title?

Sally Jacobs: If I'm recalling correctly, this is 1950, right before the US Open, and Ginger Rogers-- sorry, the US National Championship, as it was called then. Ginger Rogers was going to be appearing there also. She wasn't a fabulous tennis player, Ginger Rogers, but she was a great star. She was a wonderful dancer, but they paired the two of them off because Althea and Ginger Rogers were going to show up at the West Side Tennis Club.

The magazine ran this article with the two of them back to back on either side of the maggy. When you opened it up, Ginger's on the right side, dressed in black, Althea's on the left side, dressed in white. They were really drawing a contrast between these two people. Althea was the threat to the white sport, barging into the West Side, the elite tennis club. What was going to happen? They were loving it and hating it all at once, as I saw it.

Alison Stewart: Yes, the word threat is so loaded in so many ways. Althea didn't seem to understand the power of the press. Her friends and advisors would suggest she should be more friendly, and we would call it media savvy today. If you could share with the audience, what was something she said that really caused her trouble and maybe trouble that could have been avoided if she just were media savvy, things might have gone a little more smoothly.

Sally Jacobs: She would just tell them to just say, "Go away, I'm not going to talk to you now, buzz off." Rosemary Darben, who I mentioned early on, one of her closest friends in the ATA circuit would say, "Althea, you can't do that. You've got to be nice to them." She'd be like, "Ah, I don't want to. I don't care." That went on until she matured, was probably in, I don't know, her late 20s, early 30s. She just told them to F off, basically.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Sally Jacobs. We are discussing her book, Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson. It's our choice for full bio. Since its inception, no one Black person had played at Wimbledon until June 26th, 1951. When did Althea Gibson begin to attempt to play at Wimbledon? What would she need to do to play at Wimbledon that was difficult for her to get there?

Sally Jacobs: There had been one other person of color, a Jamaican who played in the '20s. She was the first Black woman, Black person to play there. I was overwhelmed by the press coverage of her when she gets there. The British papers were just shrieking at this. There was one story when they had about six different words for the color of her skin. She was Black, she was colored, she was niger, she was this, and it went over and over and over. That's all you knew was that she was Black, Black, Black, colored, colored, colored.

It didn't matter that she played tennis. Her story was about Wimbledon, about the tennis tournament, but the press coverage was just astonishing, even more so over the top than it was in the United States.

Alison Stewart: Help me understand, was there any written rule or official rule that a Black person could not play at Wimbledon?

Sally Jacobs: No, it just said it had never happened before.

Alison Stewart: In 1951, objectively, was Althea Gibson ready for Wimbledon? She doesn't win, we should say in the first time, was she ready to play physically, mentally?

Sally Jacobs: Oh, remember, she wins the first round, so it's not nothing, but no, she wasn't really ready. She is defeated by Beverly Baker, the famous, ambidextrous tennis player who would flip her racket from right to left, right hand to left hand, never hit a backhand, always forehands from different sides of her body, a very good player. Althea wasn't really ready for it yet. Again, the traits that I've described, like her erraticism, her footfalls, her nervousness, there was a lot of yelling there, n-word. People were not kind to her, it was overwhelming. Even if her play had been better and more controls, it still would've been an overwhelming experience.

Alison Stewart: She does hit a milestone, becoming the first African American player to win a Grand Slam when she took the French Open playing on Red Clay, and the way you describe the audience, it's-- could you describe the crowd she faced?

Sally Jacobs: They were even more emotional, more overwrought, they were legendary for that, for being emotional, name-calling, all of it. Yes, it was a very complicated match for her. She's playing against Angela Buxton, I mentioned her early on as the British woman who was a very close friend. The two of them are competing, and a sort of odd thing happened, which was that Althea's bra straps snaps during the match.

Normally, that player would go into the locker room, fix the problem, come back. Angela was her friend, Angela went with her. The crowd went crazy, like, "What's going on here? Why are these two players disappearing?" Angela could have stood her own, stayed out there, called the game, said she didn't want to help her, kind of thing, but they go on, they continue to play, and Althea recovers and wins. It was really a wild scene of emotion and name-calling, but it also marked Althea's first Grand Slam victory.

Alison Stewart: In 1957, she plays at Wimbledon, she triumphed at Wimbledon. Was it an exciting final match?

Sally Jacobs: It was probably one of the worst matches in tennis history as some tennis players said. She played Darlene Hard, otherwise, known as the California waitress, as the press called her, and not so pleasantly, they didn't mean to be, it just was what her background was. She was a very pleasant person, a very good player. They had played many times together, but it was a dull match. It was not very high-profile tennis. There's a videotape of that match. There's even a couple of times when Darlene just watches the ball sail by and starts to clap her hands, so you get the drift. I think she was overwhelmed by Althea. Althea was overwhelmed herself a little bit, but it really wasn't a great match.

Alison Stewart: Is this the match where Althea Gibson is presented her award by the Queen?

Sally Jacobs: Yes, yes.

Alison Stewart: Wow.

Sally Jacobs: 1957, the queen comes down and is standing under a little roof, she's got the trophy. Both the players, Darlene and Althea, had been trained, because people thought this moment was going to happen. How they had to curtsy, not make eye contact right away, the whole procedure. Althea says something like, "Oh, I hope it wasn't too hot for you up there." The Queen says, "No, no, I had a roof overhead. I hope it wasn't too hot for you." That was the end of that.

Alison Stewart: You're listening to my conversation with Sally Jacobs, author of Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson. After the break, we'll hear about the allies in Althea Gibson's life, including the great tennis player, Alice Marble.

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Alison Stewart: You are listening to All of It on WNYC, I'm Alison Stewart, and this is our full bio conversation about the book Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson by Sally Jacobs. What made USLTA, the United States Lawn Tennis Association relent, how was Althea's skill, and some serious allies? One former champion, Alice Marble, took the fight to the press. Let's get back into it with Sally Sally Jacobs.

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Alison Stewart: Racism was the main reason that Althea Gibson was kept out of playing Forest Hills, which now we describe as the US Open. Did the USLTA-- was it that blatant? Was it that clear, "You can't play here because you're Black?"

Sally Jacobs: No, like many acts of over-racism in those years, nobody would call it what it was. What they would say was, "Oh, she can't play here until she wins some lesser tournaments. She needs to go rack up some wins elsewhere to earn the right to play here." Was that true? Not really, no, Reginald Weir played all over the place. They wanted her to do that. They wanted to require her to do that so that they could keep her out, basically.

There were some minutes of a meeting of the USLTA where they really have the blunt discussion, where they're saying, "Chinese people want to play just on the basis that they're Chinese people and they don't allow them in." It was a subterfuge to keep her out, saying she didn't have enough experience, but that wasn't true.

Alison Stewart: Enter Superstar, Alice Marble, number one in the world during her career. She comes out and she is a super ally, she calls for Althea being allowed to play. Sally, would you read part of the letter?

Sally Jacobs: Alice Marble was one of the best women players, as we discussed, she was number one in '39. She was a real believer in tennis and women being able to play, whatever color they were, and so she decided that she was going to take a stand on this hypocrisy of the USLTA, and she wrote a letter to what was a prominent tennis magazine, American Lawn Tennis, in 1950.

Here's what she says, "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. If there's anything left in the name of sportsmanship, it's more than time to display what it means to us. If Althea Gibson represents a challenge to the present crop of women players, it's only fair that they should meet the challenge on the courts where tennis is played. The entrance of negroes into national tennis is as inevitable as it has proven to be in baseball, in football, or in boxing. There is no denying so much talent.

The committee at Forest Hills has the power to stifle the efforts of one Althea Gibson, who may or may not be the stuff of which champions are made, but eventually, she will be succeeded by others of her race, who have equal or superior ability. They will knock at the door as she has done."

Alison Stewart: What was the impact of that letter?

Sally Jacobs: Stupendous, it got them, they really couldn't say no to this. Alice goes on in her way and points out that sometimes in the summer she gets a dark skin from the sun, another player gets freckles. Are they blocked from playing in the USLTA? Of course not, so what's the difference? The USLTA doesn't do anything right away, but it got people talking. Their number had been called. Within, I think it's about three or four weeks, Althea is allowed in to play in the US National Championship, and the New York Times headline, as I recall, is something like, "Negro Girl Allowed to Play in Tournament." No name, just "Negro girl."

Alison Stewart: We've discussed the Black power brokers that she's had behind her, but over the course of reading your book, it became clear that she had women tennis players who were her allies, who rallied to help her. There was a well-known Jewish player who became a really good friend, having been excluded herself. How were they able to exert power so that Althea would get a fair shot? Honestly, from your research, why were they interested in helping a competitor?

Sally Jacobs: I'm not sure that they all together were, to be honest. There were some, yes, Alice Marble was one of them, Beverly Baker was her supporter. There were a few that supported Althea, but to be honest with you, a lot of them didn't. Althea endured a lot of bad treatment, cold shoulders. When they traveled, these women on the road, which they often did, a lot of them had a partner, someone who they probably played doubles with or who was their best friend, they would get hotel rooms together, not Althea.

There was a list of people in the locker room, and there would be jokes or little nicknames, everybody had, not Althea. She was not part of the crowd, and that's where Angela comes in. Angela Buxton, the British woman that you mentioned who had endured a lot of really bad discrimination in South Africa as a Jewish woman, she knew what it was like. I think in 1948 or '9, I think it is, she as a young woman, had heard about Althea and goes to watch her and is astonished by how she plays and gets her eyes set on her.

They meet later on in India when Althea is overseas, and they became really good friends, and they were the two that were the buddies on the road. Now, the group didn't particularly like them. They didn't really like Angela either. They thought she was too full of herself, too this, too that. Really, Angela and Althea were off on their own. It wasn't until much later, really when Althea started playing golf, that she became part of the girl's inner circle.

Alison Stewart: Once Althea can play at Forest Hills, there's this argument that bubbles up. Was she a trailblazer or was she being used as a pawn in some way? What was the argument for each side?

Sally Jacobs: The argument was by the Black community. Althea is this great player. She's broken through the barrier, but a lot of Black male, actually, many men in the Black press were not so happy about it because what it meant was Althea is going to get to go, but what about everybody else? Was this really for Black people or was it just for Althea? That was a reasonable question, because she really was someone who had been supported and championed and other Black players, yes, there were a couple here and there, but by and large, they still were not advancing in the sport.

Now, as part of the whole race picture in America, it wasn't just because they weren't being let in, but they didn't get the opportunities that they needed to be able to play. They weren't getting the training. They couldn't afford to play the sport. They couldn't afford the whole thing. They couldn't travel. It was a larger issue than what was just Althea.

Alison Stewart: Even after winning Wimbledon twice and the US Open twice, Althea was never rich, she was often broke, sometimes because of bad business decisions, mostly because women didn't get paid well. How did her financial situation impact her career choices and then her choices in tennis?

Sally Jacobs: It impacted her tennis career in a sense that she stopped it early in 1958 which was for-- she had won again, Wimbledon and the US Open, she announces that she's leaving to people's astonishment. Althea could have played on definitely, but there was no money in tennis. It's hard to imagine today with these enormous purses, millions of dollars, the Williams sisters are enormously wealthy, there was no money. Not only was there no money, you got punished if you did make a little money. Now, players made it under the table and on the side, but if you got caught making a little money, there was a big problem. You'd get booted out.

By 1958, she decides that she is going to go do something else, and she embarks on a series of mixed enterprises, a handful of which are modestly successful, but none of them really is, and she ends up later in life in chronic poverty.

Alison Stewart: Tomorrow on Full Bio, we'll learn a bit more about Althea Gibson's life, how she broke the color barrier in golf, her short recording career, and why it took so long to get her a statue at the US Open.

 

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