Women and Sports in the United States: A Documentary Reader

PLAYING NICE: Politics and Apologies in Women’s Sports

Pioneering Women in Sport 23 y PLAYING NICE Politics and Apologies in Women’s Sports Mary Jo Festle On a late August day in 1950, thousands of spectators crowded around a tennis court at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. Those who could not squeeze into the limited seating available tried to watch from under the fence or gratefully accepted standing room. They grumbled about tournament officials’ poor scheduling. “The tennis fathers, in their infinite wisdom, must surely have realized that her appearance in the tournament was a matter of considerable interest to many,” complained one reporter, “yet they staged her first-round match on the remotest possible court, where not more than three hundred spectators could watch, although about three thousand deserted the stadium and tried to.” Who had generated such interest ? It was a woman, Althea Gibson, the first “Negro” player to compete in the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) national outdoor championship. Fans were curious as to how a black player would do in the elite, white, and tradition-bound USLTA tournament.1 With bad luck in the draw, in her second match, Gibson had to face the reigning Wimbledon champ, Louise Brough, and in the first set Gibson’s nerves showed. She settled down, though, and won the second set. Gibson fell behind in the third but rallied again, and according to a seasoned tennis observer, “her powerful service and mannish net attack . . . threaten[ed] the former national champion with defeat.”2 As the match tightened, the sky darkened, and peals of thunder punctuated their shots. Rain was moments away, but hardly anyone left. “Everyone in the stands sensed that a fabulous upset was in the making.”3 Finally, with Gibson leading 7–6 in the third set, the clouds released a deluge and the match was halted. Disappointed fans raced for cover and journalists to their typewriters. That a black woman was playing on the grass courts at Forest Hills was a story in itself, but now she had the white champ on the ropes. As if to confirm the drama, lightning struck one of the stone eagles on top of the stadium, and it toppled to the ground. Excerpted from “Members Only: Class, Race, and Amateur Tennis for Women in the 1950s,” Playing Nice: Politics and Apologies in Women’s Sports, by Mary Jo Festle. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. 24 WOMEN AND SPORTS IN THE UNITED STATES Gibson’s appearance at Forest Hills indeed toppled a long-standing tradition in a game known for its traditions. But when play resumed the next day, the excitement soon dissipated. Brough made short work of Gibson, defeating her in three straight games to finish the match in just eleven minutes . In the same way, the previous day’s impression of dramatic change in the tennis world also proved illusory: despite some challenges like Gibson’s, most of tennis’s traditions remained intact in the 1950s. The USLTA retained its tight grasp on the game. Forest Hills remained an amateur tournament, and the game still kept its white, clubby, elitist atmosphere . Tennis fathers still wielded enormous power in deciding things like who would be allowed to enter tournaments, how to define amateur, and who played on which courts. And as the Gibson-Brough match illustrated, rarely did women grace the center courts. Still, although tennis authorities often relegated women to the fringes, it is significant that certain women were included at Forest Hills and that fans crowded to see them. Tennis traditions meant female tennis stars enjoyed greater status than other female athletes, but as the description of Gibson’s “mannish” game suggests , their acceptance was far from unqualified. Historically, tennis was considered a genteel sport. Upper-class sportsmen developed the modern game of lawn tennis in England in the late nineteenth century. After seeing it in Bermuda, Mary Outerbridge reportedly introduced the game in the United States in 1874.4 Tennis became fashionable in elite circles (especially at seaside resorts on the East Coast) and was an expensive luxury—equipment came only from England, and only country estates or clubs could provide the grass courts. “Lawn tennis remained the game of polite society[,] essentially one for ladies and gentlemen ,” wrote a sportsman in 1886.5 Clubs formed in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and a group of male enthusiasts organized the USLTA in 1881. Power in the USLTA theoretically...