Few athletes in American history broke as many barriers as Althea Gibson. Born in 1927 in Silver, South Carolina, and raised in Harlem, New York, Gibson rose from humble beginnings to become one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century. During the 1950s she transformed American tennis, becoming the first African American to compete at the sport's highest levels. She captured eleven Grand Slam championships, including Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, and became an international symbol of athletic excellence, perseverance, and racial progress. Yet despite her extraordinary success, the amateur tennis system of the era provided little financial security. By the end of the decade, with few competitive opportunities remaining and little money to be made, Gibson retired from championship tennis determined to reinvent herself in another sport.

Around 1960, Gibson turned her attention to golf, a game that presented an entirely different challenge—and another color barrier. Her journey led her to Jerry Volpe, the longtime golf professional at Englewood Golf Club, who immediately recognized her remarkable athletic potential. Volpe often remarked that Gibson possessed one of the finest natural swings he had ever seen, telling reporters she could become "one of the finest women golfers in the world." He marveled at her power, claiming that only the legendary Babe Didrikson Zaharias consistently hit the ball farther, while insisting that her only weakness was the short game—a flaw he believed could easily be corrected.

Volpe's support extended well beyond coaching. Convinced that Gibson deserved an opportunity denied to so many African Americans, he arranged for her to receive an honorary membership at Englewood Golf Club, making her the club's first Black member. The membership gave Gibson unrestricted access to the course, practice facilities, and competitive golf at a time when many private clubs remained segregated or effectively closed to Black players. Newspaper accounts from the period describe Gibson practicing with Volpe for three to four hours a day, lowering her scores from roughly 105 to the mid-70s in only two years. By 1962, she had earned a four handicap and was competing in prestigious amateur tournaments throughout the Northeast, with Volpe serving as both instructor and mentor.

The Englewood Golf Club also became Gibson's social home. According to contemporary accounts, she first came to the club as the guest of entertainer and club member Johnnie Johnson, who introduced her to the membership. Volpe soon arranged a memorable foursome that included Gibson, Johnson, television host Ed Sullivan, and baseball legend Jackie Robinson, helping introduce her to influential figures within the golf world. One newspaper even noted that although Gibson's permanent home remained in Manhattan, "she has lived at Englewood Golf Club ever since." Numerous newspaper articles published between 1962 and 1966 identify her simply as "Althea Gibson of Englewood" or "Althea Gibson, Englewood, N.J.," suggesting that during these years she was widely regarded as an Englewood resident while pursuing her golf career.

The results came quickly. In 1962 Gibson competed in the Women's Metropolitan Golf Association Championship and other elite amateur events, earning praise for her tremendous length off the tee and rapidly improving game. Volpe predicted that with continued practice she would soon challenge the nation's best golfers, while Gibson confidently declared that her goal was to become the U.S. Women's Amateur champion. Two years later, in 1964, she once again made history by becoming the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), breaking yet another color barrier in American sports.

The partnership between Althea Gibson and Jerry Volpe was about far more than golf instruction. Volpe provided mentorship, encouragement, opportunity, and access to a sporting world that had long excluded African Americans. Englewood Golf Club became the place where one of America's greatest champions reinvented herself, and where a visionary golf professional recognized her talent before much of the golf establishment did. Their relationship represents one of the most remarkable—and often overlooked—chapters in both Englewood's history and the broader story of racial integration in American sports.