I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4972 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Althea Gibson, in 

recognition of her groundbreaking achievements in athletics and her 

commitment to ending racial discrimination and prejudice within the 

world of athletics. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2014 

Mr. PAYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Althea Gibson, in recognition of her groundbreaking 

achievements in athletics and her commitment to ending 

racial discrimination and prejudice within the world of 

athletics. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Althea Gibson Excel5 lence Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Althea Gibson was born August 25, 1927, 

2 in Silver, South Carolina. 

3 (2) Althea Gibson lived with her family in Har4 lem during the 1930s and 1940s. She was first in5 troduced to tennis on the Harlem River Tennis 

6 Courts. She went on to dominate the all-Black 

7 American Tennis Association tournaments through8 out the early 1940s, when racism and segregation 

9 prevented her from participating in tournaments 

10 sponsored by the United States Lawn Tennis Asso11 ciation (USLTA). 

12 (3) Althea Gibson graduated from Florida A & 

13 M University in 1953, and was an athletic instructor 

14 at the Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mis15 souri. 

16 (4) Despite her extraordinary athletic prowess, 

17 Althea was repeatedly denied entry into the world’s 

18 top tennis tournaments based on the color of her 

19 skin. Alice Marble, a four-time U.S. Open champion, 

20 wrote a historic editorial published in the July 1950 

21 American Lawn Tennis magazine, condemning the 

22 sport of tennis for excluding players of Althea Gib23 son’s caliber. 

24 (5) Althea excelled in the Eastern Grass Court 

25 Championships at the Orange Lawn Tennis Club in 


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1 South Orange, New Jersey. Her outstanding grass 

2 play caused the USLTA to reevaluate its policy pro3 viding Althea a bid to Forest Hills. 

4 (6) Althea was the first African-American to 

5 win championships at famous tournaments, such as 

6 the French Open, the United States Open, the Aus7 tralian Doubles, and Wimbledon in the 1950s. 

8 (7) Althea broke the color barrier to become the 

9 first African-American player, either male or female, 

10 to be allowed to enter the Forest Hills, New York, 

11 Championship in 1950. 

12 (8) Althea Gibson’s tennis career flourished, 

13 even in the face of discrimination. She was the first 

14 African-American invited to Wimbledon in 1951, 

15 eventually winning both the women’s singles and 

16 doubles in 1957 and 1958. 

17 (9) She would go on to become the first Afri18 can-American woman to win the championship at 

19 the French Open in 1956. 

20 (10) During her career, she won 56 doubles and 

21 singles titles before gaining national and inter22 national acclaim for her athletic feats in professional 

23 tennis leagues. In the late 1950s, Gibson won eleven 

24 major titles including three straight doubles at the 


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1 French Open in 1956, 1957, and 1958 and the U.S. 

2 Open in 1957 and 1958. 

3 (11) Althea was the first African-American to 

4 be named as the Female Athlete of the Year by the 

5 Associated Press in 1957. She was given that honor 

6 again the following year. When she won her second 

7 U.S. Championship, she went professional at the age 

8 of 31. 

9 (12) As further evidence to Althea’s athletic 

10 gift, after finishing her amateur tennis career, she 

11 became a professional golfer in 1959. She was also 

12 the first African-American woman to hold a mem13 bership in the Ladies Professional Golf Association 

14 (LGPA). 

15 (13) After retiring from golf, Althea Gibson 

16 shifted her focus to public service. In 1975, Althea 

17 Gibson was named the New Jersey Commissioner of 

18 Athletics. She held this position and also served on 

19 both the State’s Athletics Control Board and the 

20 Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness. 

21 (14) Althea Gibson was inducted into the pres22 tigious International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 

23 and to the International Women’s Sports Hall of 

24 Fame in 1980. 


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1 (15) In 1991, the National Collegiate Athletic 

2 Association (NCAA) honored Althea Gibson with the 

3 Theodore Roosevelt Award, the highest honor the or4 ganization may confer on an individual. She was the 

5 first woman ever to receive this distinguished honor. 

6 (16) Althea passed away in East Orange, NJ, 

7 on September 28, 2003. 

8 (17) Althea Gibson was a trailblazer whose ex9 periences and successes paved the way for other 

10 great African-American tennis players like Arthur 

11 Ashe. 

12 (18) The legacy of Althea Gibson continues to 

13 serve as an inspiration and a shining example for 

14 the Nation’s youth. 

15 (19) Joining the ranks of other distinguished 

16 Congressional Gold Medal recipients would be a fit17 ting accolade to the achievements of Althea Gibson. 

18 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

20 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem21 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

22 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con23 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo24 ration of Althea Gibson, in recognition of her 

25 groundbreaking achievements in athletics and her commitVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:13 Jul 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4972.IH H4972

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1 ment to ending racial discrimination and prejudice within 

2 the world of athletics. 

3 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

4 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

5 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

7 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec8 retary. 

9 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

10 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

11 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

12 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

13 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

14 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

15 and the cost of the gold medal. 

16 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu18 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

19 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

20 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

21 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

22 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

2 SALE. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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