Connecting History to My Life During Women’s History Month and Beyond
By Liz Rowan
Last month, I was preparing for a Black History Month event with the Washington Kastles and local students by researching stories of African-American heroes whose impact changed the fabric of American life. The celebration intended to use history as a dialogue to help students find relevance in topics and documents that often feel very distant and detached from our lives today. During my research, I came across the story of Althea Gibson — the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title — and had a personal ‘aha’ moment about the profound impact of connecting history to our lives. And, well, the rest is history.
Althea Gibson was an American professional tennis player (and golfer), and the first black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title. The following two years she won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (precursor of the U.S. Open), and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including six doubles titles, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
EVERFI’s course emphasizes the idea that all people are living stories and that one of the ways to connect history to our lives is to go through our own family history and try to understand their experiences and what made family members the people that they are. Using this information as a catalyst, I thought about the importance of Althea Gibson’s legacy on my own life.
My grandmother, Vivien Rowan was the wife of Carl T. Rowan, a prominent State Department official and among the first nationally syndicated black columnists in the country. But the impact of her legacy is so much deeper. An archived Washington Post article reported that, in 1967, my grandparents became members of a Washington DC area country club, and my grandmother Vivien a member of the club’s tennis team. The story noted that they were reportedly one of the first black families to be accepted into the private club. A champion youth tennis athlete, my grandmother was the only black female player in a league that included 10 Washington-area private clubs. Her participation in the league’s tennis matches ignited a flurry of phone calls and secret meetings among female members of the other clubs. Ultimately, three clubs decided to leave the league. But the story, which cited anonymous club sources, said her race was the primary issue. This incident helped spark the desegregation of Washington area country clubs. She continued to play tennis well into her eighties.
Part of American history is the idea: “I want your life to be better than my life.” Althea Gibson broke barriers that directly impacted my grandmother’s life and have continued to directly impact my life. I’m proud to share this story during Women’s History month, which highlights the contributions of women to history and contemporary society. But these historical connections can be made any time we learn about history. This month and every month, I encourage everyone to connect history directly to their lives.
