• Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
    • Legislature
    • Politics / Govt
  • Sports
    • The Bill Pollock Show
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support

Missourinet

Your source for Missouri News and Sports

You are here: Home / Education / Tennis Pioneer, Althea Gibson, Once Taught Tennis in Missouri

Tennis Pioneer, Althea Gibson, Once Taught Tennis in Missouri

September 29, 2003 By admin Leave a Comment

Fifty years ago, before she became a legendary figure in the tennis world, Althea Gibson was a tennis teacher at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. It was while she was establishing herself in the otherwise white world of tennis.Gibson died this weekend at the age of 76. She joined the faculty at Lincoln in 1953, shortly after graduating from college. Gibson won at least one of her ten American Tennis Association national championships while at Lincoln. The ATA was an organizaiton for black tennis players, who were not allowed in white tournaments at that time. Jefferson City historian Gary Kremer says Gibson wrote little about her experience at Lincoln in her autobiography, but did express frustration about living in a segregated city. Kremer says one story is that Gibson fell in love with an ROTC instructor at Lincoln and that he urged her to give up tennis and join the military. She rejected him, and that idea, and a couple of years later won at Wimbledon. Kremer says few at Lincoln seem to recall that Gibson coached there for a couple of years. There are no signs recognizing her. He says she did stay close to longtime Lincoln Athletic Director Dwight Reed, who died several years ago. He says he was her mentor. Two years after she left Jefferson City, she won her first Wimbledon championship. She repeated the next year.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Education, Sports Tagged With: Jefferson City, Lincoln University, tennis

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.



Tweets by Missourinet

Sports

Bad second period dooms Blues

The Blues … [Read More...]

Cards offense falters in loss to Nationals

The … [Read More...]

Royals taker series finale with Angels

Salvador … [Read More...]

Ex-Chiefs coach charged with felony DWI

Former … [Read More...]

Mizzou gets opportunity of a lifetime in 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Out of … [Read More...]

More Sports

Tweets by missourisports

Archives

Opinion/Editorials

TwitterFacebook

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC