Overview

The Origin of Winter Sports Competition

Winter sports have existed in some capacity for centuries across the Northern Hemisphere. Speed skating developed in the Netherlands in the thirteenth century, and there are records of cross-country skiing being used as a method of transportation in the ice- and snow-covered countries of Scandinavia for at least 6,000 years.³ However, it was not until the nineteenth century that the more popular and recognizable winter sports developed. Figure skating, while having origins dating back to ancient times, came about in nineteenth-century England. The European Alps officially created alpine skiing around the same time. In the same century, the first ice hockey game was also recorded in Canada in 1875.⁴ With the growing popularity of winter athletics, the predecessor to the Winter Olympics held its first competition. In 1901, the first Nordic Games occurred in Stockholm, Sweden. The winter sports competition was hosted by the Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of Sports. This athletic competition was not only a celebration of winter sports but also of Nordic culture. Instant global attention was brought to the region, especially Sweden, and to the fledgling world of winter sports. These games would occur in the years 1905, 1909, 1913, 1917, 1922, and 1926, always in the month of February and usually hosted in Sweden.⁵

An Olympic Future for Winter Sports

Even though there was not a dedicated winter sports competition under the Olympic name until 1924, two traditional winter sports made appearances at the Summer Games. At the 1908 London Games, figure skating made its Olympic debut. Both male and female athletes competed in the sport, with all three classes of medals—gold, silver, and bronze—being awarded to the top competitors. Following its London debut, figure skating took a twelve-year hiatus from Olympic competition, returning to the list of athletic events for the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Once again, both male and female contestants participated in the sport, with all three classes of medals being awarded. Figure skating was not the only winter sport to make an appearance at the Antwerp Games. Ice hockey joined the sports roster for the first time, though the competition was limited to male athletes only. The top three teams from the competition were awarded medals.⁶ 

Following the success of ice hockey and figure skating at the Antwerp Games and taking inspiration from the Nordic Games, France’s Marquis de Polignac came up with the idea for a winter sports competition under the Olympic banner. He presented his idea to the International Olympic Committee at their 1921 biannual meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. However, there was immediate pushback from the Nordic countries. Norway even stated that they would not participate in a winter sports competition created by the IOC.

Despite the concern from Nordic countries, the International Olympic Committee ultimately decided to accept Polignac’s proposal. Because France was hosting the next Olympic Games, the country would be allowed to hold a Winter Sports Week several months prior to the start of the Paris Games. The following year IOC, with the help of sports federations like the International Ski Congress, started to prepare for this new athletic competition.⁷

The Winter Sports Week of the VIII Olympiad

Between January 25, 1924, and February 5, 1924, 260 athletes from 16 countries gathered in Chamonix, France, for the first Winter Sports Week. 

The Week began on January 25, 1924, with the Opening Ceremony. The event was overseen by Gaston Vidal, the Secretary of State for Physical Education. Athletes from the 16 countries in attendance—Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Yugoslavia—paraded from the city hall to the skating venue.⁸ Each national team had one representative proudly carrying its flag and another its emblem. Both also held the important task of saying the Olympic Oath for their country, which was said in French. For the United States, Clarence Abel carried the flag and Harry Duruy the emblem. As the teams walked through Chamonix, the band, the Twenty-seventh Alpine Blue Devils, played the national anthem of each country. Athletes from the Allied Countries received the most applause from the crowds. Upon reaching the rink, Vidal “declared the official opening of the sports.⁹” Immediately following his declaration, 150 the athletes in attendance put on ice skates and started skating around the rink. In the spirit of friendly competition, some of the athletes held impromptu skating races, which excited the crowds. Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 spectators attended the opening ceremonies.¹⁰ Overall the Opening Ceremony was considered a great success, exciting the world for the coming days of athletic competition.

“We swear that we come to the Olympic Games as loyal competitors, respectful of the rules that govern them and willing to participate in them in a spirit of chivalry for the honor of our countries and the glory of sport,” – Translated from French to English.¹¹

The Athletic Competition

Click to see video

On January 26, 1924, the athletic competition began with speed skating. Over the course of two days, athletes competed in five different events—the 500, 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000 meter races and the all-around. Some of the standout competitors from these events were Charles Jewtraw, Clas Thurnber, and Roald Larsen. Charles Jewtraw won the 500-meter race in 44 seconds.¹² He holds the title of being the first athlete to win an athletic event at the Winter Olympics, an honor that also belongs to the United States of America. Old Glory was the first flag flown in the gold medal position at the Winter Games. Clas Thunberg and Roald Larsen, both accomplished speed skaters, won medals in all five events. Thunberg won the most gold medals in the speed skating competition, returning home to Finland with three for his country.¹³

The most popular event of the Winter Olympic Sports Week began on January 28, 1924: the ice hockey tournament. It lasted a week, ending on February 3, 1924. This event was extremely popular in the United States and Canada. Newspapers in both countries closely followed the dominating gameplay of their respective teams and published titles like “The Canadian Olympic Team Won 22-0 Today¹⁴” and “American Hockey Team Victorious.¹⁵” Being leagues above the six other teams in the competition, some of the more dramatic game scores were the United States’ 19 to 0 win over Belgium and Canada’s 30 to 0 win over the Czechoslovakian team. After a week of dominating the competition, the United States and Canada met for the final on February 3, 1924. Despite the best efforts of the American team, Canada beat the United States 6 to 1. Both teams had extremely good plays, but the Canadian team was able to defend the American offensive, leading to their win.¹⁶ Congratulations were sent to the team, with Premier Mackenzie King saying, “Please extend to members of the Canadian hockey team my heartiest congratulations… All Canada is proud of this latest feather in her cap.”¹⁷ The Canadian win allowed them to defend their Olympic title in ice hockey from the 1920 Antwerp Games. 

While ice hockey dominated headlines for much of the Winter Sports Week, there were several other athletic competitions underway. One of these was curling, which remained a largely unknown sport until its appearance at the Games. When a Scottish member of the British curling team was on his way to Chamonix from Switzerland for the competition, he was stopped at the border by French authorities.¹⁸ The French border agents humorously thought the curling stone was some type of precious material. The Scotsman almost received a fine for his sports equipment, but he was eventually allowed to bring the stone into France for free.¹⁹ Following the British win over France in the curling final on January 30, 1924, the same Scotsman said, “Tis a precious stone. Indeed, there’s not so precious to me.”²⁰ Britain beat the French team 46 to 6, placing first in the curling competition, followed in second by Sweden, and finally in third by the French team.²¹

Danger and Dominance in the Competition

Unlike ice hockey and curling, which were followed by exciting headlines and humorous tales in newspapers, bobsledding proved to be infamous for other reasons. The bobsled chute at Chamonix quickly proved to be extremely dangerous, seriously injuring several athletes over the course of the competition. On January 30, 1924, two members of the French bobsled team were injured during a training accident. The captain of the team, Count de la Fregoliere, suffered a broken arm, while another member of his team suffered a skull fracture.²² The following day, the skipper of the British bobsled team seriously broke both of his legs when his bobsled overturned. Thankfully the four other members of his team were unscathed. The chute was closed for a time but reopened to allow the continuation of the competition.²³

The Indianapolis Star said, “The bobsleigh chute has been voted the most difficult in the world to negotiate safely.”²⁴ Similar issues occurred with the sky jump. Work crews had to remove sharp, unsafe corners from it before the skiing competition could occur, which still did not prevent an American skier, Ragnar Omtvedt, from receiving serious injuries that left him bedridden for ten to fifteen days.²⁵ Ultimately, both dangerous pieces of equipment were used in competition. In the bobsled competition, Switzerland took first, Britain took second, and Belgium took third. In the ski jumping competition, two Norwegian athletes, Jacob Tullin Thams and Narve Bonna, took first and second. American athlete Anders Haugen took third.²⁶

The remaining athletic events had little coverage in the news, other than to state Norway’s impeccable dominance. Norway took home both first places in the cross-country skiing competitions at the distances of 18 kilometers and 50 kilometers and all three medals in the Nordic combined, which was a combination of both ski events: cross-country and jumping.²⁷ 

Women at the Winter Olympics 

Of the 260 athletes to compete at the First Winter Sports Week, only 13 of them were women. The 13 female athletes were only allowed to compete in figure skating, which was called “fancy ice skating²⁸” by the newspapers. Figure skating had three divisions of competition. Two individual sections, one for the men and one for the women, and a partnered section where a male and female athlete would skate together. In the individual women’s competition, Austrian skater Herma Plank-Szabo blew the competition away. Beatrix Loughran from the United States took second, and Ethel Muckelt of Great Britain took third.²⁹ In partner skating, the team from Austria took first, Finland second, and France third. Even though several were outnumbered and neglected by the press, the 13 women who competed in these Games laid the foundation for all future female athletes at the Winter Olympics.³⁰ 

Closing Ceremonies

 On February 5, 1924, the Olympic Winter Sports Week came to an end. The medals were distributed to the winners at the Closing Ceremony by the IOC president, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. First place received gold, second silver, and third bronze. Norway ranked first among the participating countries, and Finland was a close second. Surprisingly, most of the athletes had left Chamonix by the time the closing ceremonies happened. People from their respective nations were chosen to receive the medals, standing in place of the absentee athletes. Overall, the winter sports week was considered a great success.³¹

The Winter Olympics

On May 6, 1926, at an IOC meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, a vote was taken, and 23 or 24 members of the International Olympic Committee chose to rename the Chamonix Winter Sports Week into the First Winter Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the growing success of the Winter Olympics meant the death of their predecessor, the Nordic Games, with its last competition being held in 1926.³² In 1928, the Second Winter Olympics would occur in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Like their predecessor, the Games proved successful and marked the first time Germany was allowed to compete in an Olympic competition since the end of World War I.³³ Unfortunately, female athletes would have to wait over a decade until the introduction of Alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics to finally be allowed to compete in more than just figure skating.³⁴

2024 marked 100 years since the creation of the Winter Olympics, and the upcoming 2026 Games in Milano Cortina will mark the twentieth Winter Olympiad.³⁵ Much has changed since the Games originated, but the desire for global athletic competition and celebration of winter sports remains.

Significance To the 1920s

The Winter Olympics came about during a unique period in history as the world started to look for new and existing forms of entertainment and thinking. Gone were the days of Victorian morality and sensibility. They had been replaced by a collection of new technologies and emerging ideas in the changing academic fields of science, psychology, and the liberal arts. People looked at the world with a more transformative and modern outlook on life than they previously had. The rise of popular media outlets like film and the radio further fueled this shift. ³⁶

Pluralism and The Spirit of the Olympic Games

While Europe was planning the next big international athletic competition, the United States was grappling with its own problems around new cultural ideas. For much of the early twentieth century, the country had been welcoming to immigrants. This changed following the passage of the Emergency Quotas Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924. Despite these new laws, millions had already made the U.S. their home. They were expected to abandon their own cultures in favor of the historically white Anglo-Saxon Protestant standard of what it meant to be American. This did not sit well with outspoken writers, who instead called for a pluralist culture in America. Hoarse Kallen argued, “Democracy involves not the elimination of differences but the perfection and conversation of differences.”³⁷ Kallen’s words were not directly related to the Olympic Games, but they beautifully encapsulated the spirit of the sporting event. It was an idealist platform where people from diverse cultures could come together, not to erase their differences, but to celebrate them through the shared experience and enjoyment of athletic competition.³⁸

Further expanding on this idea, sociologist Robert Park advocated for the preservation of cultural identity within American society. He proposed the controversial idea that people should retain their heritage and contribute their cultural practices to mainstream society, making it better in the process. This too aligned with the broader Olympic ideals. The Games were a global stage where the nations of the world could showcase their unique cultures and histories. Like all things, though, the vision is often better than the reality. Had the United States chosen to adopt the pluralistic vision presented at the Olympic Games, it would have been a wonderful example to the world about how a diverse country could look and function. Instead the vision was all but ignored, and the world just got an exhibition of winter sports.³⁹ 

The same year the Winter Olympics were introduced, the U.S. continued to battle with increasingly violent waves of racism and hate. The Ku Klux Klan was growing in power, causing major political upheaval, especially at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. The group terrorized Black Americans, as well as Jewish and Catholic communities. These groups faced intense persecution for their race and religious beliefs. The reality of the American political and societal makeup was a stark contrast to the ideals of the Olympics’ global pluralistic message. The United States government only added to the problem by passing increasingly stricter immigration laws.⁴⁰

Kallen and Park’s hopeful vision for a pluralistic society, where cultural differences would be celebrated rather than erased, fell on deaf ears. Instead, the U.S. clung to its exclusionary practices, furthering the divide between different racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Even though the Winter Olympics showcased a potential for global unity and cultural understanding, it would take decades before the U.S. could begin to reflect this ideal in its own society. The Olympics might have presented an opportunity to demonstrate how diverse cultures could coexist and enrich one another, but the U.S. was still entrenched in ideas of racial superiority and segregation.

Further Readings:

De Coubertin, Pierre, Charles Simon, and International Olympic Committee. “The Olympic Oath: A Century of History.” JOH 2. Vol. 2021, 2021. https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/johv29n2e1.pdf

Edgeworth, Ron. “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games.” Journal of Olympic History, 2009. https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/187.pdf.

Ioc. “Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results.” Olympics.com, September 26, 2023. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/chamonix-1924.

Citations:

Foot Notes:

1. “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality,” 50. ︎
2. Young, “The Origins of the Modern Olympics: A New Version” p 271. ︎
3. Kuch, “47 Winter Sports List .” ︎
4. Kuch, “47 Winter Sports List .”  ︎
5. Edgeworth, “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games,” p 68-70. ︎
6. De Groot, “The Winter Olympics: Driving Urban Change, 1924–2022″ p 84. ︎
7. Edgeworth, “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games,” p 70. ︎
8. New York Times “Olympic Ice Games Open at Chamonix: High French Official Formally Declares Classic Sports Festival Under Way.  ︎
9. New York Times, “Olympic Ice Games Open at Chamonix: High French Official Formally Declares Classic Sports Festival Under Way.  ︎
10. New York Times, “Olympic Ice Games Open at Chamonix: High French Official Formally Declares Classic Sports Festival Under Way.  ︎
11. De Coubertin, Simon, and International Olympic Committee, “The Olympic Oath: A Century of History”. ︎
12. Associated Press, “Americans Score First Points At Winter Olympics.” ︎
13. “Finland First, America Third in Skating Race.” ︎
14. “The Canadian Olympic Team Won 22-0 Today.” ︎
15. The North Adams Transcript. “American Hockey Team Victorious.” ︎
16. “Canada Again Wins Olympic Hockey Title.” ︎
17. “Canada Again Wins Olympic Hockey Title.” ︎
18. “United States with Three Wins Reaches the Hockey Semi-Finals.” ︎
19. “United States with Three Wins Reaches the Hockey Semi-Finals.” ︎
20. “United States with Three Wins Reaches the Hockey Semi-Finals.” ︎
21. “Norway Leads in Olympic Sports.” ︎
22. “Two Contestants Turn in Accident.” ︎
23. “Skipper of British Entry Is Injured.” ︎
24. “England, 11 to 0, in Hockey Competition.” ︎
25. “Olympic Victors Receive Medals: Baron De Coubertin, President of International Body, Bestows Awards.” ︎
26. Ioc, “Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results.” ︎
27. “Olympic Victors Receive Medals: Baron De Coubertin, President of International Body, Bestows Awards.”  Ioc, “Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results.” ︎
28. “‘For Countries’ Honor and the Glory of Sport.” ︎
29. “‘For Countries’ Honor and the Glory of Sport.’” ︎
30. Ioc, “Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results.”  ︎
31. “Olympic Victors Receive Medals: Baron De Coubertin, President of International Body, Bestows Awards.” ︎
32. Edgeworth, “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games,” p 71. ︎
33. Lapchick, “A Political History of the Modern Olympic Games.” ︎
34. Gilgien et al., “The Training of Olympic Alpine Ski Racers.” ︎
35. “Milano Cortina.” ︎
36. Dumenil, 146, 149. ︎
37. Dumenil, 166. ︎
38. Dumenil, 167. Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality,” 50. ︎
39. Dumenil 167-168. Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality” 51. ︎
40. Dumenil 240-243. ︎

Bibliography:

“American Hockey Team Victorious.” The Berkshire Eagle. January 28, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/545008772/?match=1&terms=olympics.

Associated Press. “Americans Score First Points At Winter Olympics.” Livingston Enterprise. January 27, 1927. https://www.newspapers.com/image/956756619/?match=1&terms=the%20first%20winter%20olympics.

“Canada Again Wins Olympic Hockey Title.” The Leader-Post. February 4, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/495426061/?match=1&terms=olympics.

“The Canadian Olympic Won 22-0 Today.” The Expositor. January 29, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/732874415/?match=1&terms=olympics.

De Coubertin, Pierre, Charles Simon, and International Olympic Committee. “The Olympic Oath: A Century of History.” JOH 2. Vol. 2021, 2021. https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/johv29n2e1.pdf.

De Groot, Stephen J. Essex and Jiska. “The Winter Olympics: Driving Urban Change, 1924–2022.” In Routledge eBooks, 84–109, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315735887-13.

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. First Edition. Hill and Wang, 1995.

Edgeworth, Ron. “The Nordic Games and the Origins of the Olympic Winter Games.” Journal of Olympic History, 2009. https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/187.pdf.

“England, 11 to 0, in Hockey Competition.” The Indianapolis Star. February 1, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/104804404/?match=1&terms=bobsled%20winners.

“Finland First, America Third in Skating Race.” The Morning Union. January 28, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1067079773/?match=1&terms=olympics.

“For Countries’ Honor and the Glory of Sport.” The Kanas City Star. February 21, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/654089163/?match=1&terms=fancy%20ice%20skating%20olympics.

Gilgien, Matthias, Robert Reid, Christian Raschner, Matej Supej, and Hans-Christer Holmberg. “The Training of Olympic Alpine Ski Racers.” Frontiers in Physiology 9 (December 21, 2018). https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01772.

Hearst Networks EMEA. “Homepage,” March 7, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/ellis-island#Ellis-Island-Timeline.

Ioc. “Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results.” Olympics.com, September 26, 2023. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/chamonix-1924.

Kuch, Max. “47 Winter Sports List (Sorted by Popularity).” SportsFoundation, November 16, 2023. https://sportsfoundation.org/winter-sports-list/.

Lapchick, Richard E. “A Political History of the Modern Olympic Games.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 2, no. 1 (March 1, 1978): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/019372357800200102.

“Milano Cortina.” Olympic.com. Accessed May 7, 2025. https://milanocortina2026.olympics.com/en.

Nikolaos Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality,” Xophia Choregia Sport Management International Journal 4, no. Number 1 (2008): 45–55, https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/PHED268/o.k….15.%2010%20Olympic%20Messages.%20Olympic%20Ideology%20and%20Olympic%20social%20reality.pdf.

“Nordic Games Hockey Match on the Nybroviken  1901 – Antique Bandy | HockeyGods,” n.d. https://hockeygods.com/images/14171-Nordic_Games_Hockey_Match_on_the_Nybroviken__1901___Antique_Bandy.

“Norway Leads in Olympic Sports.” The Ottawa Citizen. January 30, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/455775740/?match=1&terms=curling%20.

“Olympic Ice Games Open at Chanoix: High French Official Formally Declares Classic Sports Festival 

Under Way. 150 Athletes in Parade March to Rink and Take Oath of Amateurism Before Clamping on Skates. Competitions Start Today Cold Weather Makes Conditions Good For Speed Events – Americans are Confident.” New York Times (1923-), Jan 26, 1924. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/olympic-ice-games-open-at-chamonix/docview/103255490/se-2.

“OLYMPIC VICTORS RECEIVE MEDALS: BARON DE COUBERTIN, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL BODY, BESTOWS AWARDS. HAUG CROWNED CHAMPION NORWEGIAN STAR OFFICIALLY IS CALLED SKI KING FOR CAPTURING THAT EVENT THREE TIMES.” New York Times (1923-), Feb 06, 1924. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/olympic-victors-receive-medals/docview/103396308/se-2.

“Skipper of British Entry Is Injured.” Nanaimo Daily News. January 31, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/325387717/?match=1&terms=bobsled.

“Two Contestants Turn in Accident.” The Ottawa Journal. January 30, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/48175058/?match=1&terms=bobsled.

“United States with Three Wins Reaches the Hockey Semi-Finals.” The Berkshire Eagle. January 31, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/533876474/?match=1&terms=curling%20.

“U.S. Team in Third Place at End of First Day of Winter Olympic Sports.” Brooklyn Eagle. January 27, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/57546865/?match=.

Young, David C. 1987. “The Origins of the Modern Olympics: A New Version.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 4 (3): 271–300. doi:10.1080/09523368708713633.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.

In Fronc’s 2018 The 1920s – A Historiographical Survey, she specifically focuses on the idea that the 1920s has been departmentalized into this singular decade by historians. This type of thinking has existed from at least the 1950s when Burt Noggle made note of how historians often referred to the 1920s as “a distinct unit” in the Journal of American History.¹ She calls out how this is opinion is wrong and undermines the very political and social movements that people recognize the decade for: Women’s Rights, The Harlem Renaissance, and Immigration. Fronc sights a 2009 proposal by Rebecca Edwards to reclassify this tumultuous period in American history by using what she coins as the “long Progressive Era model.”² This period in time would stretch from the 1870s and possible to through the introduction of the New Deal. The hope with this new name is that it would extend historians views outward instead of them solely focusing on the narratives of the 1920s. This would give more equity to the stories of minorities.³

Goldberg wrote his Rethinking the 1920s: Historians and Changing Perspectives in 2007. It approaches the 1920s from a different angle. He provides a detailed timeline of previously published works on various elements of the 1920s and call out their strengths and weaknesses. He sights the first important work of about the 1920s as Fredrick Lewis Allen’s Only Yesterday, An Informal History of the 1920s as the building block for all future works on the 1920s. He mentions other books, including Modern Temper, showing how the political, social, and cultural views covered in each book has evolved over time. With each new topic he introduces: immigration, social issues, consumerism, the Ku Klux Klan, African American Writes, and the Woman’s Movement he provides a collection of historical books that show the evolution of ideas in a particular field of study in the 1920s. Ultimately he concludes that “the 1920s will continue to generate controversy and provoke debates about its meaning.⁴” This is due to the complicated and shifting narrative of the decade, with much of its culture being replaced the following decade in the 1930s.⁵

While Goldberg and Fronc take a differing approach to interpreting the 1920s, they both discuss the political nature of the decade. Goldberg showed how the study of 1920s politics evolved from a mostly Calvin Coolidge centered study to one that included discussions of the Democratic Party and the white power movement of the Ku Klux Klan. Fronc focused more on showing where the political ideologies of the 1920s originated from. She discussed how World War 1 created a willingness for upper and middle class Americans to accept government control of their lives. This allowed for the passage of Temperance and the various immigration laws. She also included how these laws negatively impacted the minority communities in the country. Both Goldberg and Fronc show how the political structure of the country was dominated by a white middle and upper class agenda. This created lasting negative effects for non white Americans.

Through both Goldberg and Fronc’s articles, there is a clear tracking of historical changes to the study of the 1920s. Fronc shows how there is an evolving definition of historical terminology related to the 1920s. Goldberg shows how the historical works and ideas have evolved around a number of popular topic associated with the decade. Both do an excellent job of showing their reader where history has come from, where it is now, and what the future may hold. These reading provided a foundation of how the understanding of the 1920s is constantly evolving.

Foot Notes

1. Fronc, “The 1920s,” p 15. ︎
2. Fronc, “The 1920s,” p 15. ︎
3. Fronc, “The 1920s,” p 23. ︎
4. Golberg, ” Rethinking the 1920s” p 10. ︎
5. Golberg, “Rethinking the 1920s” p 10. ︎

Biography

David J. Goldberg, “Rethinking the 1920s: Historians and Changing Perspectives,” OAH Magazine of History, (July 2007), pp. 7-10.

Jennifer Fronc, “The 1920s–A Historiographical Survey,” Routledge History of the United States (2018) p 15-24.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.

One of the most significant examples of this was the creation of the Winter Olympics. The games began during a very unique period in human history. Technologies like the automobile, radio, and film emerged. At same time, the academic fields of science, psychology, and the liberal arts saw great shifts. The combination of these events lead people farther and farther away from the Biblical centered view of the past towards a more transformative and modern outlook on life. The rise of popular media outlets further fueled this shift.¹ In 1921, the International Olympic Committee decided that France could hold a one week winter sports exhibition to coincide with the Summer Olympics of 1924. Taking inspiration from the Norse Games of the prior decades, the First Winter Olympics was attended by sixteen countries. The athletes competed in sixteen different sport disciplines. This new modern take on winter sports proved successful enough. Four years later the Second Winter Olympics happened in 1928, and the tradition of global winter sports competition officially began.

At the same time the Winter Olympics were taking shape in Europe, the United States was grappling with its own problems around new cultural ideas. For much of the early twentieth century, the country had been welcoming to immigrants. This changed following the passage of the Emergency Quotas Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924. Despite these new laws, millions had already made the U.S. their home. They were expected to abandon their own cultures in favor of the historically white Anglo-Saxon Protestant standard of what it meant to be American. This did not sit well with outspoken writers, who instead called for a pluralist culture in America. Hoarse Kallen argued, “Democracy involves not the elimination of differences but the perfection and conversation of differences.²” Kallen’s words, were not directly related to the Olympic games, but they beautiful encapsulated the spirit of the sporting event. It was an idealist platform where people from diverse cultures could come together, not to erase their differences, but to celebrate them through the shared experience and enjoyment of athletic completion.³

Further expanding on this idea, sociologist Robert Park advocated for the preservation of cultural identity within American society. He proposed the controversial idea that people should retain their heritage and contribute their cultural practices to mainstream society, making it better in the process. This too aligned with the broader Olympic ideals. The Gams were a global stage where the nations of the world could showcase their unique cultures and histories. Like all things though, the vision is often better than the reality. Had the United States chosen to adopt the pluralistic vision presented at the Olympic Games, it would have been a wonderful example to the world about how a diverse country could look and function. Instead the vision was all but ignored, and the world just got an exhibition of winter sports.⁴

The same year the Winter Olympics were introduced, the U.S. continued to battle with increasingly violent waves racism and hate. The Ku Klux Klan was growing in power, causing major political upheaval, especially at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. The group terrorized Black Americans, as well as Jewish and Catholic communities. These groups faced intense persecution for their race and religious beliefs. The reality of the American political and societal make up was a stark contrast to the ideals of the Olympics global pluralistic message. The United States government only added to the problem by passing increasingly stricter immigration laws. ⁵

Kallen and Park’s hopeful vision for a pluralistic society, where cultural differences would be celebrated rather than erased, fell on deaf ears. Instead, the U.S. clung to its exclusionary practices, furthering the divide between different racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Even though the Winter Olympics showcased a potential for global unity and cultural understanding, it would take decades before the U.S. could begin to reflect this ideal in its own society. The Olympics might have presented an opportunity to demonstrate how diverse cultures could coexist and enrich one another, but the U.S. was still entrenched in ideas of racial superiority and segregation.

Citations

Footnotes

1. Dumenil, 146, 149. ︎
2. Dumenil, 166. ︎
3. Dumenil, 167. Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality,” 50. ︎
4. Dumenil 167-168. Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality” 51. ︎
5. Dumenil 240-243. ︎

Biography

Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics – athletes, medals & results. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/chamonix-1924. 

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. First Edition. Hill and Wang, 1995.

Nikolaos Patsantaras, “Olympic Messages: Olympic Ideology and Olympic Social Reality,” Xophia Choregia Sport Management International Journal 4, no. Number 1 (2008): 45–55, https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/PHED268/o.k….15.%2010%20Olympic%20Messages.%20Olympic%20Ideology%20and%20Olympic%20social%20reality.pdf.

Hearst Networks EMEA. “Homepage,” March 7, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/ellis-island#Ellis-Island-Timeline.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.

Gertrude Ederle was one of the most important women of the 1920s. She is a perfect example of a “new woman.” On August 6, 1926, she proved that women could not only compete in physical challenges on the same level as men, but do them better. Her historic swim came at a time when women were regularly having their swimwear evaluated for modesty on public beaches, often being fined for showing too much skin or not having the correct swimming attire. Ederle’s swim proved that women were capable of accomplishing anything, and that they could professionally perform these tasks in attire that was previously deemed unacceptable.

By the mid 1910s, psychologists were beginning to recognize women as sexual beings. Universities began to teach classes on female sexuality, and the media began to write books and articles about this ever expanding topic. As the twenties dawned, women began to explore and adopt this new part of their identity. Birth control slowly became accessible, championed by people like Margret Sanger, and attitudes towards women in the workplace changed. Young women’s views on marriage and societal norms also began to shift towards a more open and freeing nature. As women began to enter the workplace, they were able to financially support themselves for the first time, instead of having to rely on a man for all their needs. While the average woman’s wage was not enough for her to live off, it did allow her to purchase luxuries she may not have previously had access to and gave for more freedom in her clothing choices and hairstyles. This economic freedom also gave women social liberation, allowing them more time to experience the world’s offerings, which they often did in jazz clubs and dance halls. This new existence was particularly freeing for young women, who were able to delay marriage and enjoy their newly liberated status instead of having to immediately fall into the role of wife and mother. 

Ederle’s swim further supports this narrative. At the age of 20, when in previous eras would have been married, relying solely on their husbands, and likely already mother, Gertrude Ederle was breaking societal norms. She was an athlete, trying for elite conceptions like the Olympics, and redefining what women could achieve.

Despite the progress women began to make in the 1920s, they saw great push back from other members of society. Young women in particular were often called “immoral, irresponsible, irreligious” for their sexual, financial, and social liberation. Their clothing, hair styles, entertainment choices, and actions were looked down upon by older generations. Movies, newspapers, and books contained tales of women involved in scandalous content ending with lessons on morality and warnings to young women about their futures. Despite these attempts at repression, young women continued to express themselves and were insistent on expressing their personal choices in fashion and behavior.¹

Gertrude Ederle was no exception to this. Women’s swimwear was not designed for practicality, but modestly. Ederle challenged this. On August 6, 1926, she stood on a French beach lathered in lard and in a customized two piece swimsuit. She modified a traditional swimsuit to meet the needs of an athlete about to undertake an extremely difficult physical feat. Upon the completion of her swim, Ederle in her modified swimsuit was seen around the world on the front pages of the paper. Ederle proved to the world that a “new woman” was a capable and accomplished person. She would go on to receive numerous awards and opportunities because of her swim. 

The idea of a “new woman” is one who challenges social norms ultimately leading to the acceptance and adoption of new ones. Gertrude Ederle certainly did this. She was a prime example of a 1920s “new woman.”

Bibliography:

“600,000 VISIT CONEY IN A DAY OF RECORDS: FIFTY GET INTO TROUBLE OVER BATHING SUIT RULES AND THOUSANDS CUT FEET. STRICKEN BY HEAT IN SURF MAN IS PULLED FROM ICY WATER AND RESUSCITATED — LOST CHILDREN OVERRUN POLICE STATION.” New York Times (1923-), Jul 21, 1924. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/600-000-visit-coney-day-records/docview/103355297/se-2.

Constad, Alyssa. “From Bloomers to Bikinis: A Brief History of the Bathing Suit.” South Carolina State Museum, n.d. https://www.scmuseum.org/learn/deeper-dive-series/bloomers-bikinis-brief-history-bathing-suit.

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. First Edition. Hill and Wang, 1995.

“GERTRUDE EDERLE’S SUCCESS.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/gertrude-ederles-success/docview/103809286/se-2.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.

The English Channel is a three hundred and fifty-mile-long stretch of water that separates the British Isles from the rest of mainland Europe. At its greatest width the channel is one hundred and fifty miles wide, and at its narrowest point stretches a distance of twenty-one miles. This frightening body of water remains cold throughout the entire year, ranging in temperature from forty-six to sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit on average. Separating the two major sections of Europe, the Channel is trafficked by numerous boats, commercial and privately owned. It is also home to natural, deadly creatures like jellyfish and sharks. To brave this treacherous stretch of water takes a willpower and strength most people do not possess. A person must be willing to risk life and limb to swim this gray, churning expanse…¹

Gertrude Ederle was not fazed by the dangers and risks of swimming the English Channel. On August 6, 1926, the nineteen-year-old made history. She became the first woman to successfully swim across the Channel.

Preparing to Make History

Her journey to successfully swimming the English Channel began long before she stepped foot on the French coast at Cape Gris-Nez on the fateful August day. Ederle grew up learning how to swim at the Jersey Shore, where her family vacationed during the summer. These formative years of swim instruction led her to develop a passion for the sport, which continued into her teen years. Trudy proved to be an extremely powerful and accomplished swimmer, setting twenty-nine records between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. For Ederle, successfully swimming the English Channel was the sign of a truly accomplished swimmer. On August 18, 1925, she made her first attempt at swimming the Channel. Eight hours forty-eight minutes into the swim, her coach pulled her from the water. The conditions were extremely rough, and the then eighteen-year-old had swallowed large amounts of salt water. Trudy was extremely upset as she was removed from the water. Channel expert Bill Burgess said, “The girl was short of her best condition… She will do it if she trains properly.”² The speed and strength Ederle showed on her first attempt were unseen before in previous Channel swims. Following her failure to complete the swim on the first try, Gertrude was determined to complete the task. Ederle was interviewed following her failed attempt. She assured the world she would attempt the Channel swim again.

“My motto is ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” And I want the public to know that I am going to attempt to swim the English Channel again next July.” – Gertrude Ederle³

One year later, Gertrude Ederle was back on the French beach at Cape Gris-Nez. Assisted by her sister Margaret, Trudy began to prepare for her second attempt at crossing the English Channel. For this try, she wore a modified black one-piece swimsuit that her sister reworked into a functional two-piece. Part of Ederle’s challenge when attempting to swim the Channel the year prior was her swimsuit. The heavy wool one-piece swimming costume was not designed for the athletic feat that Trudy was undertaking. It weighed her down, becoming another obstacle during an already difficult swim. To prevent this from happening again, Ederle and her sister designed her a one-of-a-kind swimsuit. She also donned a red swim cap and a special pair of goggles, waterproofed with wax. To complete her swimming ensemble, Trudy lathered her body in a thick layer of lanolin and other fatty substances. This coating was supposed to help Ederle stay warm in sixty-one-degree weather and to protect her from possible jellyfish stings.

Ederle’s Swim

At approximately 7:09 a.m., Gertrude Ederle entered the frigid waters of the English Channel. The route she chose to swim had a distance of approximately twenty-one miles from the French to British shores. However, because of the strong currents and tides in the Channel, Ederle would end up fighting through numerous extra miles of water to reach her intended destination. To combat the strong seas, she immediately began to swim at a steady and rhythmic pace using the relatively new American Front Crawl. All previous channel swimmers used a combination of breast, side, or trudgen strokes. These are all traditionally slower swimming styles and require less physical exertion. Ederle’s choice to use the front crawl gave her the advantage of being able to move faster and more efficiently than if she chose to use another swimming technique. This was extremely important because she was pushed, off course, several times, resulting in Ederle swimming a total of thirty-five miles. 

Like her previous attempt, Trudy was not alone as she fought the conditions of the English Channel. She was accompanied by two tugs. Among the people on the Tugs was her sister and father. Henry Ederle was one of the main supporters of his daughter, promising her a brand new roadster if she completed the swim. One of the main jobs of Ederle’s support team was to give her food and fluids to keep her body fueled. These items were delivered to Trudy in a net-like contraption. On her Channel crossing menu, Ederle consumed chicken legs, pineapple juice, chocolate, and sugar cubes. The other major job of the support tugs was to keep Ederle motivated. They played her some of her favorite popular American songs, which included “Rosie O’ Grady,” “Let Me Be Your Sweetheart,” “East Side, West Side,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” These kept her going as she battled through the frigid, churning waters of the English Channel⁴. 

As the hours passed, the conditions of the channel worsened as a squall blew in. Ederle was already battling six-foot waves and strong currents, but they continually got more challenging. The support team on the tugs asked Trudy to stop her swim because of the weather, but she refused and kept swimming. At one point her left leg started to stiffen up, causing her to not be able to kick properly, but this too did not hinder her. Gertrude Ederle fought on. Darkness descended upon her as she neared the English coast. The waiting crowds lit fires to guide her to shore. At 9:40 p.m., fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes after leaving Cape Gris-Nez, France, Ederle stepped foot on English soil. The first person to greet her was a British customs officer requesting her passport. Upon her arrival in Kingsdown, England, Gertrude Ederle was able to claim the title of the first woman to swim the English Channel. She was not only the first woman to swim the Channel successfully but also set a new record for the Channel swim, which was nearly two hours better than the standing record set by a male swimmer in 1923.

The World Responds to Gertrude Ederle’s Accomplishment

Upon her arrival in England, the legitimacy of Ederle’s swim was challenged. The British and French press questioned if she had received extra help or somehow cheated. Even with these false claims, Gertrude Ederle’s accomplishment was not undermined. In an interview with her the following day, Trudy expressed her thrill at successfully completing the Channel swim. When asked how she managed to complete the swim, she said, “I said I would do it; I meant to do it; I did it. I never felt like giving up… I told them not to let me give up, and I stuck to it.⁵” Her mom and dad kept her going too. Even though her mom was not with her, she sent her communications through the radio. These were read to Gertrude and only encouraged her to swim harder. Ederle described her feelings of accomplishment, saying, “I’m tickled to death that I have taken the Channel honors for women to America. That’s great.”⁶. Despite the huge accomplishment, she assured the press she would swim another fourteen hours, “but never again in the English Channel.”⁷

The world was captivated with Gertrude Ederle’s accomplishment. The press coined the term “Queen of the Waves” for Ederle.⁸ Headings like “City Throngs Give Greatest Welcome to Gertrude Ederle,” “Sees Victory Over Corsets, Coach Robison Says Miss Ederle Proves Conquest of Petticoats,” “Hailed as Gertrude of America,” and numerous other titles showed the enthusiasm people had for her. Ederle had articles written about her every move and was greeted by adoring crowds as she visited her grandma in Germany and stopped in Paris. Her greatest welcome, though, had to be when she returned to New York City on August 27, 1926. Nearly two million people welcomed her home. Among the many to congratulate her was the president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, who called her “America’s Best Girl.”⁹ For a time, Gertrude Ederle was recognized among the greatest athletes in American history. She left a legacy in the swimming world, showing that women could accomplish any feat, sometimes even better than their male counterparts.

Significance:

“The New Woman”

The 1920s saw the emergence of the New Woman. Following the passing of the 19th Amendment, young women began to enter the workforce at a rapid rate. Instead of getting married and relying on a husband for financial support, they choose to hold jobs and have economic freedom. This denial of marriage and choice to work went against the standards set by the previous generations of women. Never before had such large amounts of young people been liberated to experience the world on their own terms. These women spent their hard earned money on leisure activities and keeping up with the latest fashion trends.¹⁰

When she swam the English Channel, Gertrude Ederle was at an age where she could have been married or in the process of becoming. Instead, she chose following her life passion and make swimming her career. She accomplished numerous challenging swims during her professional career. Upon her reach as of celebrity status following her Channel Swim, Ederle showed that a woman could not only remain unmarried and become successful in her chosen career, but also do her job better than her male counterparts, having beat the standing record set by a male Channel swimmer in 1923 by nearly two hours. While definitely able to, Gertrude Ederle would never marry, providing for herself until her death, further showing the capacity of a woman in the workplace.

Another huge portion of this recreation of womanhood was the changes in clothing and hairstyles. Young women rejected the strict, structured garments of the Victorian and Edwardian eras in favor of loose-fitting dresses with high hemlines. They also cut their hair into much more manageable bob styles.¹¹ This rejection of the old and adoption of the new was a huge part of the decade. Despite the numerous changes in fashion, swimwear remained relatively the same. Women were expected to wear modest, woolen swimwear. Beaches across the country had police officers whose sole purpose was to ensure that female beach goers were wearing swimsuits of modest and appropriate length. If a woman was found to not meet the modesty standards of a beach, she risked being kicked off the beach, fined, or in extreme cases, arrested. As the popularity of the sport of swimming grew, the old, archaic, heavy woolen swimsuit styles proved to be problematic for competitive swimmers. Little was done to remedy the problem.¹² This left Gertrude Ederle to create her own swimsuit design that would allow her freedom of movement and a more weightless feeling. The result was a custom-made two-piece ensemble that she wore when she successfully swam the English Channel. While her swimsuit would not have been allowed on American beaches, it was needed for her to accomplish such a feat. Thanks to the heavy media coverage of her swim, photos of Ederle in her head of the time getup were seen all over the world. Swimwear did not change overnight, but Gertrude Ederle creating her own swimsuit showed the need for proper active swimwear for women, laying the foundation for the wide variety of options available today. ¹³

The World of Swimming

For much of human history, women have always been viewed as the weaker sex, and this extended to their athletic abilities. At the 1924 Summer Olympics, the farthest swimming distance in the female events was four hundred meters, and the now widely used front crawl was deemed feminine and graceful, “particularly suitable for women.”¹⁴ While slowly gaining notoriety, the front crawl was still not the go-to swimming stroke of athletes. When Gertrude Edele swam the English Channel, she chose to use the front crawl. The front crawl is one of the most effective swimming strokes. It allows the swimmer to maintain a steady rhythm while propelling themselves at a rapid rate forward without exhausting the swimmer.¹⁵ Ederle showed the effectiveness of the stroke, and it gained notoriety through her. The mass consumerism of the decade meant that people around the world were able to hear updates through their radios as she swam across the Channel.¹⁶ Trudy ended up setting a new record using the front crawl. She was a modern woman using a modern swimming technique. Despite Ederle showing the effectiveness of the swimming technique, some people still thought of it as too feminine. Male athletes like Johnny Weissmuller were needed to get the public fully on board with the front crawl.¹⁷

Concerning the frailty of women in the sport of swimming, Gertrude Ederle crushed all previously existing thoughts. When asked for comment on her swimming thirty-five miles, Tom Robison, swimming instructor at Northwestern University, said, “A woman could not possibly have accomplished the same feat thirty years ago.”¹⁸ However, he also stated that “as far as physical strength is concerned, women…have shown a prowess equal to men.”¹⁹ Through newfound liberation, Gertrude Ederle showed that a woman was capable of anything in the world of athletics. 

One hundred years later, at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, both men and women had seven events of varying lengths solely using the freestyle (the front crawl), the most of any stroke. The longest distance event at the games was the one thousand five hundred meter freestyle race. Both men and women competed in the race. For the women, Katie Ledecky, one of the greatest female distance swimmers of this generation, won the gold medal for Team USA.²⁰

Conclusion

Gertrude Ederle’s swim across the English Channel showed that women were capable athletes who could accomplish impossible feats. She embodied a New Woman, rejecting traditional values and creating her own way in the world. Ederle also helped to create changes in the sport of swimming paving the way for female swimmers a hundred years later like Katy Ledecky. Gertrude Ederle was a hero then and an inspiration now.

Further Reading:

“Life Story: Gertrude Ederle.” n.d. Women and the American Story: New York Historical Society. New York Historical. Accessed March 24, 2025. https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/gertrude-ederle/.

Ward, Mary Ederle, Brenda Greene, and Tim Dahlberg. America’s Girl: The Incredible Story of How Swimmer Gertrude Ederle Changed the Nation, 2009. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB1455158X.

Citations

Footnotes

1. “English Channel Water Temperature.”
   Ingrid Leonard, “How Wide Is the English Channel?”
   ︎
2. “Salt Water made the Swimmer Ill.” ︎
3. “Miss Ederle to Try Channel Next July.” ︎
4. G Middleton, “Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try It Again.” ︎
5. G Middleton, “Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try It Again.” ︎
6. G Middleton, “Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try It Again.” ︎
7. G Middleton, “Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try It Again.” ︎
8. “Neighborhood Roars Welcome to Trudy.” ︎
9. “Memories are Still Golden for Gertrude Ederle.” ︎
10. Dumenil, 126-127. ︎
11. Dumenil, 135. ︎
12. Ibbetson, “A History of Women’s Swimwear | Fashion History Timeline.” ︎
13. “Life Story: Gertrude Ederle.” ︎
14. Stieglitz, .“The American Crawl” 71. ︎
15. Stieglitz, .“The American Crawl” 71. ︎
16. Dumenil, 77-78. ︎
17. Stieglitz, .“The American Crawl” 72. ︎
18. “Sees Victory Over Corsets.” ︎
19. “Sees Victory Over Corsets” ︎
20. Ioc, “Paris 2024 Swimming – Olympic Results by Discipline.” ︎

Bibliography

“600,000 VISIT CONEY IN A DAY OF RECORDS: FIFTY GET INTO TROUBLE OVER BATHING SUIT RULES AND THOUSANDS CUT FEET. STRICKEN BY HEAT IN SURF MAN IS PULLED FROM ICY WATER AND RESUSCITATED — LOST CHILDREN OVERRUN POLICE STATION.” New York Times (1923-), Jul 21, 1924. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/600-000-visit-coney-day-records/docview/103355297/se-2.

Antrim, Doron K. “Where Is Gertrude Ederle?” Saturday Evening Post 216, no. 50 (June 10, 1944): 100. https://research-ebsco-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/linkprocessor/plink?id=6a6f1381-2306-3721-85bb-8b2ad9766497.

Anderson, Kelli. 1999. “The Young Woman And the Sea.” Sports Illustrated 91 (21): 90. https://research-ebsco-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/linkprocessor/plink?id=5a4a21b0-3450-3347-ab75-4960b18ddd51.

Alec Rutherford, “Expert Says ‘Crawl’ Conquered Channel: Modern Stroke, He Finds, and New Knowledge of Tides Made Fast Time Possible. Ederle Route Described Tells How Course Was Fixed To Catch Favorable Tide – Burgess Long Studied It. Expert Says ‘Crawl’ Conquered Channel.”New York Times (1923-), Sep 01, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/expert-says-crawl-conquered-channel/docview/103811340/se-2.

“Big Welcome for ‘Trudy’ Ederle: City’s Committee Will Greet Channel Swimmer, Coming Today on The Berengaria. Mayor to Present Medal. Neighbors Decorate Several Blocks and Crowds Will Hall Swimmer at Homecoming.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 27, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/big-welcome-waits-trudy-ederle/docview/103676633/se-2.

“Channel Exploit Thrills the City: Public Men Rejoice with Miss Ederle’s Family in Her Achievement. Mother Deeply Stirred, Germans Plan a Demonstration When Swimmer Returns Home.” New York Times (1923-),Aug 07, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/channel-exploit-thrills-city/docview/103814041/se-2.

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. First Edition. Hill and Wang, 1995.

English Channel Water Temperature: Current, Historical Data & Forecast. “English Channel Water Temperature: Current, Historical Data & Forecast,” n.d. https://seatemperature.net/seas/english-channel.

G Middleton. “Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try It Again; Is Hailed in France: Bringing Channel Swim Honor to American Women Satisfies Her Ambition, She Asserts. Mother Won, She Insists Tells How Radio From “Mum” Put Fight in Her to Beat Cross tides at Crisis. Welcomed Back to France She Has A Triumphal Gay Talese. New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/miss-ederle-happy-wont-try-again-is-hailed-france/docview/103838653/se-2.

“Gertrude Ederle’s Success.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/gertrude-ederles-success/docview/103809286/se-2.

“Memories are Still Golden for Gertrude Ederle: She has no Regrets about Years since Her Channel Swim.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 06, 1958. 32. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/memories-are-still-golden-gertrude-ederle/docview/114387802/se-2.

“Hailed as “Gertrude of America.” 1926. New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 3. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/hailed-as-gertrude-america/docview/103807642/se-2.

Ibbetson, Fiona. “A History of Women’s Swimwear | Fashion History Timeline.” Fashion History Timeline, n.d. https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/a-history-of-womens-swimwear/.

Ioc. “Paris 2024 Swimming – Olympic Results by Discipline.” Olympics.com, n.d. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/paris-2024/results/swimming.

Leonard, Ingrid. “How Wide Is the English Channel?” Geographic Pedia, June 24, 2024. https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-pedia/how-wide-is-english-channel/.

“Life Story: Gertrude Ederle.” n.d. Women and the American Story: New York Historical Society. New York Historical. Accessed March 24, 2025. https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/jazz-age/gertrude-ederle/.

“Miss Ederle’s Challenge.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 19, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/miss-ederles-challenge/docview/103741744/se-2.

“Miss Ederle to Try Channel Next July: Says She Will Make Charges Against Jabez Wolfee in Thirty Days.” New York Times (1923-), Sep 24, 1925. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/miss-ederle-try-channel-next-july/docview/103509557/se-2.

“Neighborhood Roars Welcome to Trudy: Swimmer is Crowned ‘Queen of the Waves’ by Excited Throng on Amsterdam Avenue. Gertrude Ederle’s Neighbors on Amsterdam Avenue and the Side Streets Welcomed Her Back Home Last Night in a Delirious Demonstration of Affection.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 31, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/neighborhood-roars-welcome-trudy/docview/103739081/se-2.

“Procession from Boulogne to Griz-Nes When She Returns From Dover. Miss Ederle Happy, Won’t Try it Again.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/miss-ederle-happy-wont-try-again-is-hailed-france/docview/103838653/se-2.

“Salt Water made the Swimmer Ill: Miss Ederle Loses Hard Channel Fight.” New York Times (1923-),Aug 19, 1925. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/salt-water-made-swimmer-ill/docview/103606081/se-2.

“Sees Victory Over Corsets: Coach Robision Says Miss Ederle Proves Conquest of Petticoats.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 08, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/sees-victory-over-corsets/docview/103771356/se-2.

“Sets Out Swimming Strongly.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 07, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/sets-out-swimming-strongly/docview/103878697/se-2.

Shapiro, Lauren. 2005. “Can She Do That?” Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice 20 (May): 196–98. https://research-ebsco-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/linkprocessor/plink?id=bab5f3eb-b853-3a29-a508-5949c54e0ae9.

Stieglitz, Olaf. “The American Crawl – Praktiken Von Geschlecht Und Moderne in US-amerikanischen Schwimmbecken, 1900–19401.” Gender 10, no. 1.05 (January 2018): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.3224/gender.v10i1.05.

“Tug Party Defends Miss Ederle.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 17, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/tug-party-defends-miss-ederle/docview/103778982/se-2.

Ybarra, T. R. “Cheered at British Shore: She Lands at Kingsdown After Hard Battle From Gris-Nez. Conquers Wind, Rain, Tide Fights for Three Desperate Hours Off English Coast Till Favoring Current Aids. Bonfires Light Last Dash. Searchlights also Sweep from Shore as New York Girl comes in with Strokes Still Strong.” New York Times (1923-), Aug 07, 1926. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/cheered-at-british-shore/docview/103878568/se-2.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.

The truth about the 1920s is very different than their portrayal in pop culture. While the Twenties were definitely a “Roaring” decade, it is mostly for the wrong reasons. One huge misconception about the 1920s is that they were this perfect time when Americans were living in luxury. Only white Americans were truly able to participate in the booming economy and purchase new inventions like the infamous Ford Model T car. This would all come crumbling down when the stock market crashed. Many of those newfangled gadgets were being purchased with credit and loans, which were backed by investment in the stock market. When the market crashed, people lost everything. Another major misconception of the 1920s is in regard to women. Despite how important women were in the war effort only a few years prior and gaining the right to vote through the ratification of the 19th Amendment, they were expected to return to their roles of wife and mother in the. This led young people to rebel against these societal norms. They cut their hair and dressed in clothing that would have previously been considered immodest. Flapper culture was not just some cool fashion trend that needs to be replicated in Halloween costumes; it was women fighting for their rights. The entire system of the decade was flawed from the start and doomed to fail, but through the rose-colored glasses of pop culture, those realities are missed. 

The 1920s was a unique period in the history of the United States and the world. Looking at the images above, I am reminded about the beauty and tragedy of this decade. The five women in the first picture appear like they could be around my age, late teens to early twenties. They were the first generation of women to get to vote when they became of age, 21 at the time. They also were the first generation of American women to start wearing skirts and dresses that neared their knees, paving the way for women to eventually have the freedom of expression that we have today in our fashion. The second image shows me the more tragic side of the decade. Non-white Americans were excluded and discriminated against. In the image, a band is visible, which is comprised of some Black American artists. Black Americans introduced the country to jazz music, which would become a defining feature of the decade. Talented Black musicians would play at high-society clubs in big cities like New York and Chicago. However, these amazing artists were only invited to entertain. They would never have been able to walk through the front doors because of the racial prejudice that plagued the country at the time.

The final image I chose to include in this blog post summarizes my thoughts on the 1920s. Looking at that beautiful car parked on the street, one sees beauty and class. This is how the decade is viewed on a surface level: a time of luxury, glitz, glamor, and never-ending fun. However, like with anything, there is a deeper meaning behind this image. Many people in the 1920s ended up losing their cars when the stock market crashed. When they purchased it, they never would have guessed that owning such an item would have a consequence. The same can be said about the 1920s as a whole. On the surface the decade appears to be this perfect time; however, the country was plagued with racial injustice, crime caused by Prohibition, a growing consumer population that could not afford their purchase, and so many other problems. While we still can admire the beauty of the 1920s, we also must acknowledge its flaws so we do not repeat the same mistakes in the future.

Sources:

FamilySearch. “Radio and Music in the 1920s United States,” October 3, 2023. https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/1920s-radio-music-america.

Paccone, Peter. “SAQs for APUSH Topic 7.8 — the 1920s (Political and Cultural Controversies).” Medium, January 7, 2022. https://ppaccone.medium.com/saqs-for-apush-topic-7-8-the-1920s-political-and-cultural-controversies-7ec9d74f234b.

Tim, St. Onge. “Paving the Way: Traffic Flow Maps From the 1920s | Worlds Revealed.” The Library of Congress, August 18, 2022. https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2022/08/paving-the-way-traffic-flow-maps-from-the-1920s/.

faythe

I am an undergraduate teacher education student at Ramapo College, minoring in history. As a future teacher, I hope to inspire my students to love the subject of history and to understand its importance in their lives.