Althea Gibson was born on August 25,1927 in Silver, South Carolina. Her Mom, Annie Bell Gibson, and Dad, Daniel Gibson, were cotton farmers. Her and her 4 siblings sometimes helped on the farm. They did not earn very much money, so Althea's early life was difficult.

Early Life

Education

At first Althea wasn't very interested in school because she was more interested in tennis. During one of her matches Althea got noticed by people at the ATA, which later helped her get a scholarship at Florida A&M University for tennis and graduating with a physical education degree.

Tennis

In the 1940's and 50's most tennis competitions and tournaments were closed to African Americans. The tennis professional , Frederick Johnson, was Gibson's first coach. In 1947, two people noticed Althea at a match, and offered her a full scholarship into ATA. At first she thought she didn't think she wanted to go back to school. But, her friend convinced her to take the opportunity.