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Althea Gibson

Chronology

1927	Born August 25 in Silver, South Carolina
1930	Moves to New York City
1941	Begins lessons at Harlem's Cosmopolitan Club
1942	Enters and wins her first tournament, sponsored by the all-black American Tennis Association (ATA)
1946	Moves to Wilmington, North Carolina, to work on her tennis game and enroll in high school
1949	Finishes tenth in her high school class; accepts tennis scholarship to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee
1950	Enters her first outdoor United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) tournaments; plays in the U.S. National Tennis Championships at Forest Hills
1951	Competes in the All-England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon
1953	Graduates from Florida A&M moves to Jefferson City, Missouri
1954	Works with coach Sydney Llewellyn
1955-56	Travels throughout Southeast Asia on a U.S. State Department-sponsored goodwill tour
1959	Releases soloist album; appears in the film The Horse Soldiers
1960	Tours with the Harlem Globetrotters playing exhibition tennis
1964	Launches her professional golf career
1965	Marries businessman Will A. Darben
1971	Retires from professional golf
1975	Becomes manager of the East Orange, New Jersey, Department of Recreation
1977	Runs for New Jersey State Senate; loses three-way Democratic primary in Essex County