Cool Chicks from History

Valerie Brisco-Hooks with her son Alvin Jr. at the 1984 Olympic trials.  Valerie would go on to win three gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

obitoftheday:

Obit of the Day: A League of Her Own in A League of Their Own

Lavonne “Pepper” Paire Davis loved baseball. So when she was 18 she jumped at the chance to join Philip K. Wrigley’s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the spring of 1944. Davis, a catcher by trade was first assigned to the Minneapolis Millerettes and would spend the next ten seasons in the AAGPBL.

A defensive specialist with a .997 lifetime fielding percentage (meaning that she made all by 0.3% of all plays she handled behind the plate), she would  win a championship in 1946 with the Racine Belles and finish second three other times (1951-1953). Hitting only .225 over her career, Mrs. Davis had 400 runs batted in, good for fourth all time.

But Mrs. Davis’ contribution to the AAGPBL went beyond the diamond. She was the co-writer of the league’s official “Victory Song” along with Nalda “Bird” Phillips. The song was performed during the film.

Mrs. Davis’ experiences and personality also earned her the role of technical advisor for A League of Their Own. The lead character, “Dottie Hinson,” played by Geena Davis was a composite of Mrs. Davis and two other stars of the AAGPBL: Dorothy Kamenshek and Dottie Schroeder.

“Pepper” Paire Davis, who published her memoir Dirt in the Skirt in 2009, passed away on February 3, 2013 at the age of 88.

Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, PepperPaireDavis.com, AAGPBL.org, Baseball-Reference.com, and IMDB.com

(Image is courtesy of www.sportsartifacts.com - you can buy the photo for $40.)

Other members of the AAGPBL on Obit of the Day:

Amy Applegren

Patricia Brown

Joan Kaykoski

Daisy Junor

Janet Perkin

Doris Sams - Threw a perfect game

British golfer Muriel Dodd.  In 1913 she won both the British Ladies Amateur and the Canadian Women’s Amateur championships.

Abby Hoffman-When no female leagues were available to her, Hoffman cut her hair and was registered as a boy “Ab Hoffman” in order to play hockey in the mid 50’s. She was only 8 years old at the time and had everyone convinced she was a male until she participated in an all-star game that required players to submit their birth certificates.

Hoffman was ejected from the league and her story made international news. She later assisted the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in implementing a national women’s championship, and today, representatives from each province vie for the Abby Hoffman Cup.

Source: penshead.com

(Source: classichockeyplayers)

updownsmilefrown:

15 year old, Andrea Mead Lawrence during practice for the Winter Olympics, 1947

by George Silk

Andrea Mead Lawrence (1932-2009) did not medal at the 1948 Olympics, but she went on to win gold medals in the slalom and giant slalom at the 1952 Olympics.  A peak in Mono County, CA was named in her honor in 2010.

pasttensevancouver:

Barbara Howard, February 1938

Barbara Howard was once among the fastest women in the world and the first black woman to represent Canada on the international sports stage. At the age of 17, while still a student at Britannia High School, Howard qualified for the 1938 British Empire Games by sprinting 100 yards in 11.2 seconds, a tenth of a second faster than the Games’ record.

After a month-long voyage to get to the games in Sidney, Howard drew much attention from the Australian media and sports fans, according to the Globe:

Barbara Howard, dusky sprinter from B.C., caused quite a stir among Sydney’s populace during her appearance at the Empire games … She apparently was quite a novelty … appearing on the front page of every newspaper. They seldom see colored athletes down there … the photographers and autograph seekers kept on her trail.

Howard placed sixth in the 100 yard dash, but helped bring home silver and bronze medals in two relay races. She felt she let down Canada, so never made a big deal out of the Games when she got home. “I didn’t think I did well,” she said. “It was nothing to be boasting about if I didn’t get the gold medal.” Her plan was to redeem herself at the 1940 Olympics, but those hopes died because the world was at war and the Games were cancelled. With her sports career behind her, Howard completed the teaching program at UBC and became the first visible minority hired by the Vancouver School Board. 

Only recently has Barbara Howard’s pioneering role in sports been recognized. Last month, at the age of 92, she was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. She is also depicted in a mural commemorating the centenary of her old high school and was awarded the “Freedom of the Municipality” by Belcarra, where she lived for years.

There has been speculation that Howard might be related to Olympians Valerie and Harry Jerome. Maybe, maybe not, but there is definitely one other fleet-footed person in her family. Barbara Howard’s uncle was Elijah “Lige” Scurry, a local lacrosse legend in the 1890s, when it was the most popular sport around. Lige was so fast on the field that Victoria and New Westminster joined forces to impose a “colour bar” on the league, which effectively ended the lacrosse career of the Vancouver team’s best player. For both Lige Scurry and his niece, the journey to their full athletic potential was cut short by circumstances beyond their control.

For more on Barbara Howard, see Tom Hawthorn’s blog. Thanks to John Burwood for spotting the link between Barbara Howard and Elijah Scurry.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives #371-1643

Dominique Moceanu bounded on to the world stage in 1996 as the youngest member of the “Magnificent Seven,” the US’s first Olympic gold medal winning women’s gymnastics team.  Today she is a mother of two and an author. Her memoir, Off Balance, starts with the story of her parent’s marriage and follows her life to the present day.

Previously I read Shawn Johnson’s Winning Balance.  For me, Off Balance is a much more interesting book. Dominique is ten years older than Shawn, which gives her more life experiences to write about and more distance her period as a teenage Olympian.  Dominique also seems to have had a much more challenging life than Shawn, from her tumultuous childhood to her discovery of an unknown sister at age 23.  

Off Balance is worth picking up if you’re a gymnastics fan …or if you want to find out more about that secret sister.

Off Balance on Amazon

The Go For the Gold Gymnasts, Dominique’s children’s books, on Amazon

Dominique’s Tumblr

Los Angeles T-Birds roller derby game, 1983.  

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shawn Johnson won a gold medal for her balance beam routine and silver medals in the all-around and floor exercise.  Her autobiography, Winning Balance, covers her birth through her second attempt at making the Olympic team.  For me, the most interesting parts of the book described what it was like to be an Olympian- living in the Olympic village, interacting with the press, and her post-Olympics stint on Dancing with the Stars.  I wasn’t a fan of the “Life Lessons” at the end of each chapter, a short description of what Shawn learned from this period in her life.  Example: “… Find something you love, work hard at it, and keep your family a priority.  Things have a way of working out from there.”  I think it would have been a stronger book without these lessons, but for the tween segment of the audience they may be more impactful.

The full title of the book is Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams and it was published by a Christian imprint.  This may be a pro for some readers and a con for others.  It is a “clean” book with no swearing or mentions of sex.  There are a couple of pages mentioning Shawn’s personal faith journey, but Christianity isn’t a major focus on the book.

Overall, I’d recommend this book for gymnastics fans and tween readers who may better appreciate the inspirational sections.   

Winning Balance on Amazon

Sharon Hedrick of U.S.A. set a world record for women’s 800-meter wheelchair race. Photo dated: August 12, 1984.

Sharon won the gold medal in the 800 m wheelchair race at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games, setting world records both times.  She also won six gold, four silver, and two bronze medals as a Paralympian in athletics, swimming, and basketball.  Before she competed in the Olympics and Paralympics, Sharon was the first female  wheelchair athlete to enter and complete the Boston Marathon (1976).

Sharon is part of the delegation representing President Obama at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.  The games began on August 29.

Valerie Brisco-Hooks shows off her Olympic medals at her alma mater, West Athens Elementary. In her arms is her son, Alvin Jr.

Valerie won three gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles: 200 m, 400 m, and the 4 x 400 m relay.  In 1988 she won a silver medal in Seoul in the 4 x 400 m relay.  Today, Valerie is a track coach in the Los Angeles area.