University Of Washington

Celebrating & Honoring Pre-Title IX Women Athletes

Women’s Sports History Project

HerStory Sports!

University Of Washington

Why Knowing Our Sports Heritage is Critical

Makes clear we have a past (we do not want to repeat), a present to celebrate and a future to aspire to

Let’s us know who to thank for being able to run bare-legged!

Introduces us to our sisters in sports – we have our OWN heros

Helps us take our fitness & ourselves seriously– from birth to earth

www.womenssportshistory.com

Women’s Sports History ProjectReclaiming women’s sports history now!

University Of WashingtonWomen’s Sports History ProjectReclaiming all women’s sports history now!

Our Focus: Celebration & Education To recapture & reclaim women’s sports history. So we can answer:

Who are my athletic foremothers?

How did those gals in the 1900’s change social norms so I could run bare-legged?

Where is the bar? How high do I need to jump to break the world’s record?

Who are Bernice R. Sadler & Edith Starrett Green? (See page 18)

Why do I know Babe Ruth’s name and not Babe Didrikson Zaharias? (p.19)

Who are my athletic emancipators?!

QUESTION: What year was thee 1st women’s HARDBALL game played?

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes & she-roes!”

Maya Angelou

www.womenssportshistory.com

University Of WashingtonWho Paved the Way?!Women have been playing sports since ancient times!

396 B.C. - Kyniska, a Spartian princess, wins an Olympic chariot race, but is barred from collecting her prize in person.

1552 - Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87), an avid golfer, coins the term “caddy” by calling her assistants cadets. It is during her reign that the famous golf course at St. Andrews is built.

1866 – The Vassar Resolute Team – 1st time women played baseball in the US

1871 - Addie Alexander climbs the 14,256 ft Longs Peak in Colorado.

1879 - Speed-walker Ada Anderson walks 2,700 quarter-miles in 2,700 quarter hours

1896 - Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley. Stanford wins 2-1 on April 4 before a crowd of 700!

University Of WashingtonWomen Who Got Dirt on Their Skirts!Vassar Women’s Hardball Team – The Resolutes!

NEXT PAGE - QUESTION: What was it that emancipated women faster than anything else?

University Of WashingtonWho Paved the Way?! 1884 - Women's singles tennis competition is added to Wimbledon. Maud

Watson wins in 1884 and '85.

1890's – “The Bloomer Girls” first professional baseball era - 1890s till 1934. Over 100 teams: All Star Ranger Girls, Philadelphia Bobbies, New York Bloomer Girls, Baltimore Black Sox Colored Girls - offered employment, travel, & adventure for young women who could hit, field, slide, or catch.

1896 – Women buy 20-30 percent of the bicycles in the US. Susan B. Anthony says that "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world.“

1920 - Ladies Professional Soccer Team tours the US, outscoring their male opponents 35-34 with a 3-3-2 record.

1924 – 1936 - Publication of The Sportswoman magazine.

1926 – Three weeks after Ederlie's successful Channel crossing, Mrs. Clemington Corson of New York breaks the record - 15.5 hours.

Her record time also beat all the men swimmers to date. QUESTION: When was 1st Olympics for women?

University Of WashingtonFirst Women-Only Olympics!1900 The Olympic Committee would not let the women compete in

the Olympics – so they started their own –19 women competed.

1921 – French women establish Olympics international games for women, the Jeux Olympiques Feminine du Monde. 300 women from five countries compete in track and field and basketball. The games are repeated in 1922 and 1923. They were wildly successful!

University Of WashingtonWe Got Game!

1926 “The Match of the Century” - 1926 - Suzanne Lenglen of France plays Helen Wills, match between two tennis greats. Lenglen won, 6-3, 8-6.

1931 - Women begin competing in skiing events at the world championships sponsored by the International Ski Federation.

"Jackie" Mitchell strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game for the Chattanooga Lookouts and signs to play in the men’s league – Commissioner Landis voids the contract – the sport is too strenuous for women.

1931 – Seattle’s Helene Madison is named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for swimming.

1932 - Babe Didrikson win the team championships single-handedly. She won 6 gold medals and broke 4 world's records, totaling 30 points. The entire second place team won just 22. She is named the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year for track and field.

University Of Washington

The Babe’s Bravado!

“The Babe is here. Second place is up for grabs.”

Some of Babe’s Achievements:1. Five world records in five events

2. Two Olympic golds & one silver in 1932 Games (later turned to gold)

3. Founding mother of PGA

4. Won over 10 tournaments

5. Excelled at basketball, hardball, track and golf

1914-1956

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

One of Our Athletic Foremothers

University Of WashingtonWe Got Game! 1939 - Alice Coachman wins the first of 10 national high jump

championships. 1939 - Alice Marble is a triple champion at Wimbledon in singles,

doubles and mixed doubles.

1945 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias is named the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year for golf, 13 years after winning for track and field in 1932. She repeats in 1946 and 1947. The Babe won a total of 114 golf tournaments, 83 amateur golf tournaments, 31 on the P.G.A. tour, with a string of seventeen consecutive major women's tournaments.

1949 - The Girls Rodeo Association is formed in San Angelo, TX with 74 founding members. Margaret Owen is crowned the first rodeo champ.

University Of WashingtonWe Got Game!

University Of WashingtonWe Got Game!

1949 – Wilson Sporting Goods agrees to sponsor the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

1950 – Babe Didrikson Zaharis is named “Women Athlete of the Half Century”

1960 - Wilma Rudolph, during the Olympic Games in Rome, becomes the first American woman to win 3 track and field gold medals - in the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash, and the 400 meter relay. She is named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for 1960 and 1961

1960 - Donna de Varona is the youngest member of the US Olympic swimming team at 13.

University Of WashingtonRunning For Gold!

1960 Olympics First woman to win 3 gold medals!

University Of WashingtonThe Mother of Modern Sports

1966 - Billie Jean King wins her first Wimbledon single title, repeating in ’67 & '68.

1971 - Billie Jean King becomes the first woman athlete to win more than $100,000 in a single season in any sport. She is the only woman to have won US singles titles on grass, clay, carpet & hard court.

1970 – Leader of a REVOLT with 8 other women to start the Virginia Slims Tour 1972 - Congress passes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. “No person in the

United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance.” President Nixon signs the act on July 23

1972 - Billie Jean King is named the Sportswoman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, the first time the award is given to a woman.

1973 - Billie Jean King wins the "battle-of-the-sexes" tennis match against Bobby Riggs on Sept. 20 in Houston in front of more than 30,000 people and a world-wide TV audience of more than 50 million. It firmly connected women's rights to women's sports and

1973 – Founded Women’s Tennis (1973), The Women’s Sports Foundation (1974), The Women’s Sports Magazine (1974) and World Team Tennis, too!

1975 - Title IX goes effect on June 21.

University Of WashingtonThe Match That Changed EverythingSeptember 20th, 1973

6-4, 6-3, 6-3

“Champions Adjust!”

“Pressure is a Privilege”

University Of Washington

Dr. Bernice Resnick Sandler

Rep. Edith Starrett Green, from Oregon – (deceased) Co-sponsor of Title IX legislation . She wrote initial

draft and was the strategist that ensured it passed. June 23, 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, was passed by the Congress and on July 1, 1972 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon.

The Godmother of Title IX legislation. In 1969 she discovered Executive Order 11246 which had been amended by President Johnson, effective October 13, 1968, to prohibit contractors who received US Federal funds to discriminate basis of sex (and other protected classes).“After receiving her doctorate she interviewed but was never selected for a position at the universtiy level. They reason the male decision makers shared with her: “… let's face it," he said, "You come on too strong for a woman."Later she wrote “Too Strong for a Woman – The Five Words That Led to Title IX Legislation”http://www.bernicesandler.com/id44.htm

A Couple of Our Athletic Emancipators

University Of Washington

Who is protecting Women’s Sports History?

SADLY, THIS MUSEUM IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS.

WHO’S PROTECTING WSH? WE ARE!

Reclaiming and Celebrating Women’s Sports Heritage

University Of WashingtonBillie Jean King’sWomen’s Sports Museum

Provides a permanent archive of women’s sports and will include a Hall of Recognition honoring legendary athletes and coaches and telling the story of the evolution of women’s sports

Offers interactive areas where visitors can learn about the struggle of women’s sports pioneers and celebrate the great achievements of individuals and teams

Explores the roles of coach, team, player and family by taking visitors on a journey that follows the growth and development of the female athlete

Offers an online resource center to educate the public about the benefits of women’s sport and physical activity and the mission and programs of the Women’s Sports Foundation.http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org

Sports Museum Of America™ 26 Broadway

New York, NY 10004

University Of Washington

What can you do? Support the WSF Support the Billie Jean King International Sports Museum Coach if you don’t – if you do, teach a younger woman to coach! Petition to have your alma mater to research, document and celebrate the

other half of their/your sports heritage!

UW recognized the other ½ of Husky Sports History!

SOLD OUT EVENT! TO DATE – 300+ WOMEN HONORED AND HERSTORY BEING PRESERVED AND ADDED TO AT PAUL ALLEN ARCHIVES…..

YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!!!

Celebrating and Reclaiming Women’s Sports Heritage

University Of Washington

Celebration of Pre-Title IX UW Women’s Athletics

Honoring our Past & Celebrating our Future

Underwriting ProposalDon James Center

April 7,2007

Reclaiming The Other Half of UW Sports History

University Of Washington

WHAT:Celebrating Pre-Title IX UW Women Athletes – Honoring Our Past, Enjoying the Present and Securing the Future of Women’s Athletics

WHO:Celebrating 300 Pre-Title IX UW Athletes; 700 total attendance (women athletes attending from 18-80 and their family and fans!) 

WHEN: April 7, 2007  5:00 pm: Reception /University of Washington President

Mark Emmert & Keynote – Dr. Donna Lopiano, ED of WSF  7:00 pm: Dinner & Award Ceremony 

WHERE: The Bank of America Arena – Seattle, WA  

University Of Washington

Celebration UW Pre-Title IX Women Athletes!

Me : )

University Of Washington

University Of Washington

The honorees! [We anticipate 100 honorees and over 400 attendees]

UW President Dr. Mark Emmert

Four Women State Supreme Court Justices

Seattle Mayor Nickels

Washington Governor Gregoire

Olympic Basketball Coach Anne Donovan

Dr. Donna Lopiano Executive Director of Women’s Sports Foundation – the keynote speaker

Attendees of Note

University Of Washington

                                                                   

The Women Pre-Title IX Laid the Foundation for Women’s Sports

Revolution!

University Of Washington

DECLARATION OF ATHLETIC INDEPENDENCE

One SCORE and eighteen years ago our foremothers brought forth on

this GLOBE a new concept, conceived in LIBERTY and dedicated to the

proposition all WOMEN are created to MOVE, BE FIT & POWERFUL. We

were all endowed with certain unalienable RIGHTS, among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT of

ourPERSONAL BEST.

HerStory Sports! What We Believe!