In a 1977 historical analysis of women in sports, "The New York Times" columnist William C. Rhoden wrote, Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph are, without question, the most significant athletic forces among Black women in sports history. While Rudolph's accomplishments brought more "visibility" to women as athletes ... Althea's accomplishments were more "revolutionary" because of the psychosocial impact on Black America. Even to those Blacks who hadn't the slightest idea of where or what Wimbledon was, her victory, like Jackie Robinson's in baseball and Jack Johnson's in boxing, proved again that Blacks, when given an opportunity, could compete at any level in American society.