Two Deaths

Abstract This chapter begins by recounting how Althea Gibson became one of nine women inducted into the new International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, finally getting the recognition she deserved. The gala night, however, reminded Gibson of the things that did not happen for her because she came along too soon. A new generation of Black women were making names for themselves in tennis in the Eighties. No longer able to maintain a viable career in either tennis or golf, she traveled, spoke, and gave tennis exhibitions. Organizations invited her to speak during events dedicated to women, women in sports, and African Americans. Indeed, speaking in support of women in sports became chief among Gibson’s interests in her last years. In the early 1990s, Gibson fell ill and became homebound. Through her long end, television became Gibson’s constant companion. The rise of Venus Williams roused her. She knew all too well what it was like to be an outsider in tennis, and she encouraged Venus to look upon the status as an asset. Gibson died on September 28, 2003, felled at last by a heart attack suffered months earlier and respiratory problems.