# @gettyimages on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rQqwIBAKY
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/16447555-gettyimages-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/98d224c075.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-08-27T17:33:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty Images (@GettyImages) — https://gondola.cc/GettyImages

## Caption

"Remember me strong and tough and quick, fleet of foot and tenacious."⁠
The achievements of tennis player Althea Gibson have been commemorated with a new statue, unveiled yesterday outside the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York.⁠
The first African-American player to win a Grand Slam title with victory at the French Championships, Gibson was also the first black champion of Wimbledon. On receiving the world's no.1 tennis trophy from the British monarch, she remarked: "Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina."⁠
The daughter of sharecroppers, Gibson discovered the sport when the family moved to Harlem during the Depression, taking up paddle tennis as part of the neighbourhood's Police Athletic League program. ⁠
A return visit in 1957 is captured here by photographer Genevieve Naylor. That same year, Gibson won five titles, including her first US National Championship. In another first for African-American women, she was honoured with a ticker tape parade through New York City.⁠
For more coverage of the pioneering athlete, follow our bio link.⁠
📷: Genevieve Naylor/Corbis via Getty Images⁠ | gettyarchive ⁠
#altheagibson #USopen #tennischampion #grandslam #grandslamchampion #americanicon #tennishistory #sportshistory #blackhistory #arthurashestadium #flushingmeadows #wimbledonhistory #champion #sportsicon #tennisicon #tennislegend #sportslegend #genevievenaylor #photojournalism #streetphotography #harlem #archivephoto #photoarchive #historyphoto #historyinphotos #gettyarchive

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## Tags

photojournalism, grandslamchampion, tennishistory, tennislegend, usopen, streetphotography, sportsicon, tennisicon, champion, arthurashestadium, americanicon, photoarchive, archivephoto, harlem, genevievenaylor, wimbledonhistory, altheagibson, sportslegend, sportshistory, historyphoto, gettyarchive, blackhistory, grandslam, historyinphotos, tennischampion, flushingmeadows

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