1950s to 1960
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
One of the Civil Rights Movement’s most prominent figures, Rosa Parks rebelled against the racist segregation policies in Montgomery, Alabama’s bus system by refusing to sit in the designated space for African Americans in the back of the bus on a December day in 1955. Parks, an organizer and leader in the NAACP and the Civil Rights Movement, was arrested and fired for her protest. Her actions sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually integrated Alabama’s buses. Parks went on to work with activists and civil rights leaders, as well as be awarded numerous awards for her bravery and achievements. The story of her defiance in the face of America’s Jim Crow policies is an essential part of our history and must be shared with every generation. — Kayla Smernoff
Althea Gibson (1927-2003)
Althea Gibson won 11 Grand Slams and more than 100 other titles. (Althea Gibson Foundation)
Long before Venus and Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe or Coco Gauff picked up a tennis racket, Althea Gibson reigned supreme on the court, winning 11 Grand Slams and roughly 100 other titles worldwide.
The same type of behind-the-scenes machinations that it took for Jackie Robinson to integrate baseball when he stepped onto the diamond at Ebbets Field as a darker Brooklyn Dodger in 1947 came into play when Gibson integrated tournament tennis by competing at the U.S. Nationals in 1950 and Wimbledon in 1951.
In 1957 and 1958, Gibson won the singles titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. National Championships, now known as the U.S. Open. And she still holds the record for winning 10 consecutive singles titles in the American Tennis Association (ATA), which was founded in 1916 and is the oldest black sports organization in history. — Yanick Rice Lamb
