These are just a few women barrier breakers I’ve had queued up for a while. Before Venus and Sabrina there was Althea Gibson and the Peter’s sisters nicknamed “Pete and Repeat.”
Gibson is known for the first American to win title at Wimbledon and U.S. Nationals (precursor to U.S. Open), which she did back-to-back in 1957-1958.
Althea Gibson | American Masters | PBS
Before Venus & Serena Williams, there was Margaret and Matilda Peters. They were nicknamed “Pete” and “Repeat” for their doubles playing skills and last name. The Peters Sisters attended Tuskegee University in 1937.
By the time the walls of segregation in tennis started falling, the Peters sisters were past their prime and were never able to compete in racially integrated matches. However, they gained fame as tennis stars. Margaret and Matilda Peters were inducted into the Tuskegee Hall of Fame in 1977.
While they were in college, segregation laws did not allow African Americans to compete against Whites, so the Peters sisters played in the American Tennis Association (ATA), which was created specifically to give African Americans a forum to play tennis competitively.
After graduating from Tuskegee University in 1942, they both continued to play tennis in the American Tennis Association. They won 14 Doubles Tennis titles between 1938 and 1953. Despite their great skill, the sisters were never allowed to compete against the great white Doubles Players of the time.
By the time the walls of segregation in tennis started falling, the Peters sisters were past their prime and were never able to compete in racially integrated matches. However, they gained fame as tennis stars. Margaret and Matilda Peters were inducted into the Tuskegee Hall of Fame in 1977.
Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands | American Masters | PBS
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt did what the DAR wouldn’t and this was what interracial support garnered. Twenty four years later the MLK march on Washington brought this full circle with the “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Best known for her concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, Anderson christened the Washington, D.C., landmark as a place of protest after she was discriminated against on the basis of a “whites only” concert policy at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall. She garnered interracial support from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the NAACP, Howard University and other leaders and defied the conscience of her time by performing for an integrated audience of over 75,000. The concert reached millions of radio listeners around the world and became an inspiration to the growing civil rights movement, inspiring a 10-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., to later publish a winning oratorical citing the experience.
As I visit this site in August, I will stand on these steps, close my eyes and imagine the millions who have come before me. This will fulfill a bucket list moment that I have waited decades to do.
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