How a Paris Meet Changed Women’s Track and Field

Though women track and field athletes have made incredible showings on the world stage, their presence wasn’t always welcome in the sport. In the 1920s, women’s athletics weren’t particularly encouraged, explains librarian Jane P. Tuttle.

“Athletic talent mattered little for women when wife and mother were their accepted societal roles,” Tuttle writes. And even in collegiate athletics, the focus was more on making women fit to fill societal roles than to create superstars. As one college administrator noted in 1925, “[o]ne of the chief ends of a college for women is to fit them to become the makers of homes.” Read More