NEVER TOLD BEFORE!! Women have been doing amazing and outstanding things in athletics for a long, long, long time... learn some of the history of women's athletics and how to preserve it!!!! If history, heritage and legacy are important for the men's sports they are for women's sports too! Make HERstory! Help uncover, discover, reclaim and record women's sports history in your own family! Just do it!

1. University Of Washington
Celebrating & Honoring
Pre-Title IX Women Athletes
Women’s Sports
History ProjectHerStory Sports!

2. 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 Project
Reclaiming women’s sports history now!

3. University Of WashingtonWomen’s Sports History Project
Reclaiming 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

4. 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!

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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!

8. University Of Washington
We 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.

9. 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

10. University Of Washington
We 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.

11. University Of WashingtonWe Got Game!

12. 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.

13. University Of WashingtonRunning For Gold!
1960 Olympics
First woman to
win 3 gold
medals!

14. 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.

15. University Of WashingtonThe Match That Changed Everything
September 20th
, 1973
6-4, 6-3, 6-3
“Champions Adjust!”
“Pressure is a Privilege”

16. 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

17. 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

18. University Of WashingtonBillie Jean King’s
Women’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

19. 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

20. University Of Washington
Celebration of Pre-Title IX
UW Women’s Athletics
Honoring our Past & Celebrating our Future
Underwriting Proposal
Don James Center
April 7,2007
Reclaiming The Other Half
of UW Sports History

21. 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

22. University Of Washington
Celebration UW Pre-Title IX Women Athletes!
Me : )

23. University Of Washington

24. 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

25. University Of WashingtonThe Women Pre-Title IX Laid the
Foundation for Women’s Sports
Revolution!

26. 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!