Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

Between World War I and World War II, women flocked to Chicago’s parks, playgrounds, and clubs, becoming enthusiastic participants, players, and fans of the games of the time. Robert Pruter’s Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago; 1918–1941, examines how the Windy City became home to advancements in women’s track and field, swimming, basketball, golf, speed skating, and softball. As a work of sport and urban history, Pruter’s text situates the vibrant world of women’s athletics within the context of interwar Chicago’s new infrastructure and support from its religious and cultural institutions, newspapers, and industrial and retail firms.

Woven into this historical analysis are biographies of individual athletes, including Edith Cummings, the 1920s golf star who inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Tidye Pickett, the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago provides a detailed look at developments in the city, the rise of women’s sporting culture, and the lives and social contexts of the athletes who navigated gender norms while embracing more inclusive recreation and competition.

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Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

Between World War I and World War II, women flocked to Chicago’s parks, playgrounds, and clubs, becoming enthusiastic participants, players, and fans of the games of the time. Robert Pruter’s Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago; 1918–1941, examines how the Windy City became home to advancements in women’s track and field, swimming, basketball, golf, speed skating, and softball. As a work of sport and urban history, Pruter’s text situates the vibrant world of women’s athletics within the context of interwar Chicago’s new infrastructure and support from its religious and cultural institutions, newspapers, and industrial and retail firms.

Woven into this historical analysis are biographies of individual athletes, including Edith Cummings, the 1920s golf star who inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Tidye Pickett, the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago provides a detailed look at developments in the city, the rise of women’s sporting culture, and the lives and social contexts of the athletes who navigated gender norms while embracing more inclusive recreation and competition.

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Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

by Robert Pruter
Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago: 1918-1941

by Robert Pruter

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Overview

Between World War I and World War II, women flocked to Chicago’s parks, playgrounds, and clubs, becoming enthusiastic participants, players, and fans of the games of the time. Robert Pruter’s Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago; 1918–1941, examines how the Windy City became home to advancements in women’s track and field, swimming, basketball, golf, speed skating, and softball. As a work of sport and urban history, Pruter’s text situates the vibrant world of women’s athletics within the context of interwar Chicago’s new infrastructure and support from its religious and cultural institutions, newspapers, and industrial and retail firms.

Woven into this historical analysis are biographies of individual athletes, including Edith Cummings, the 1920s golf star who inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Tidye Pickett, the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Modern Women and Sports in Interwar Chicago provides a detailed look at developments in the city, the rise of women’s sporting culture, and the lives and social contexts of the athletes who navigated gender norms while embracing more inclusive recreation and competition.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780815657231
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Publication date: 01/17/2025
Series: Sports and Entertainment
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 27 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Robert Pruter is an independent scholar in both popular music history and in sport history. He is the author of His Chicago Soul, Doowop: The Chicago Scene, and The Rise of American High School Sports and the Search for Control: 1880-1930.

Table of Contents

PART I. 1920S: THE RISE OF MODERN ATHLETIC WOMEN Chapter 1. Introduction: Modern Chicago Ready to Develop Women's Sports Chapter 2. Parks and Playgrounds: Core Foundation of Chicago's Women Sports Chapter 3. Competitive Swimming for Women: From Birth to Olympic Glory Chapter 4. Chicago in Forefront of Women's Track and Field Chapter 5. "Not Playing Like an Animated Checker": Chicago Women's Basketball in the Golden Age of Sports Chapter 6. Chicago Becomes a Major Center for Women's Golf Chapter 7. Women's Speed Skating Emerges from Norwegian Winter Games Chapter 8. African American Women Develop Their Own World of Sports PART II: Chicago Women's Sports Thrive during the Great Depression Chapter 9. Women Swimmers Rise to the Top Chapter 10. Women's Track and Field Prospers in the Depths of the Depression Chapter 11. Women's Basketball of the 1930s Sustained by Newspaper Support Chapter 12. Chicago Women's Golf Becomes More Democratic Chapter 13. Women's Speed Skating in the Depression Years Chapter 14. Chicago and the Development of Modern Women's Softball Chapter 15. African American Sports for Women Grow in the Great Depression Afterword Bibliography Index
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