July 21, 1957 – A milestone moment in sports history. A young lady by the name of Althea Gibson became the African-American to win a major US tennis tournament. Miss Gibson opened the door and inspired many black athletes to compete at sports that had in the past not been available for them to participate in.
In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title when she took home the French Championships. The following year she won both Wimbledon and this US Nationals (precursor of the US Open). It wasn’t a fluke either as she repeated and won them both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network
A Decade of Dominance and Drama: The West From 2010 – 2020
If you are looking for a division that is a microcosm of football’s high-intensity
Early Rule Changes In Basketball (The First 50 Years)
Let us take a trip to the past to look at some of the
The Most Lopsided Blowout In College Football History
Every year in college football there is a game where one team finds out
Relive My First Super Bowl Experience With Me (Super Bowl IV)
The first Super Bowl I can remember watching was Super Bowl IV. I was
Remembering Chester Marcol’s Incredible Rookie Season
By the time of the 1972 NFL Player Draft, the Green Bay Packers, in
The Pro Football Hall of Fame (From My Perspective)
***This is an updated article that I released about 2 years ago.*** The Pro
Dancing Sheik to Sheik: Blood, Fire, and The Original Sheik
The NEW YOU ASKED FOR IT, a show that ran in syndication from 1981
Art Folz: The NFL’s Biggest Villain That You Never Heard About!
Who is Art Folz, and why is he one of the most notorious villains