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.

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.

_{^{Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, and Bob Meusel. Nicknamed the “Murderer’s Row”}}

Baseball: America’s Most Iconic Sport

This blog starts off with such a bold, declarative statement. Baseball is America’s most iconic sport. To a large extent, this is true. Although there are a multitude of sports within America with immense followings, baseball has truly become one of the first sports, if not, the first sport to popularize the culture behind the modern competition amongst professional athletes. Major League Baseball held the first ever World Series in 1903, and would continue to host annual championship series throughout the rest of history up to the current contemporary era. Despite the fact that baseball’s inception started at the start of the 20th century, baseball truly began to become popularized with the rise of baseball star Babe Ruth and with the success of the Yankees during the 1927 World Series. The 1927 Yankees are remembered as one of the most dominant teams in MLB history. On top of that, legacy of Babe Ruth is still talked about by experts and fans alike to this day. Serving as the face of the league for over a decade, Babe Ruth’s career not only cemented his own legacy, but the legacy of Major League Baseball as a whole.

Babe Ruth Prior to 1927

As previously mentioned, Babe Ruth had been the face of the league during the 1920s. By 1927, Ruth was already an established super star who had won four championship world series. Babe Ruth’s dominance did not stop at championships. Known as one of the most powerful baseball hitters of his time, Ruth earned a reputation as a powerhouse hitter during an era where hitting relied on strategy and speed.¹

Babe Ruth’s powerhouse hitting style backed up his legacy as Ruth would go on to lead the entire league in home runs every year from 1918 to 1926. That is nearly a decade time span where Babe Ruth was the best home run hitter in the league. In 1920, Babe Ruth set the home run record in a season with 54 home runs. The very next year in 1921, Babe Ruth would break his own record with 59 home runs. This record would later be broken by himself again during the 1927 season with 60 home runs. Babe Ruth’s sheer power and ability to send the baseball out the stadium forced pitchers from other teams to innovate the way they pitched. Pitchers were forced to develop new pitching strategies in order to remain competitive when pitching to Babe Ruth.² To say Babe Ruth was dominant is a complete understatement.

Babe Ruth’s dominance affected baseball within a cultural and economic sense as well. Babe Ruth’s sheer dominance and popularity was able to draw in casual fans who were initially not interested in the sport of baseball. Ruth’s fame transcended sports as he would be featured on newspapers, advertisements, and radio broadcasts. The 1920’s was heavily characterized by a “celebrity culture” in which celebrities were glorified within the public light.³ Babe Ruth was a major part of this trend, and as a result his fame brought in a higher attendance rates for major league baseball games. A larger fan base meant an increase in revenue, which led to increased revenue for his team as well as the construction of larger ball parks including the Yankee Stadium in 1923.⁴ The Yankee Stadium was dubbed, “The House That Ruth Built” in light of the fact that Babe Ruth’s impact was what helped the Yankees fund the construction of the Yankee Stadium.⁵ Moreover, Ruth’s influence on baseball also inspired younger players to follow his style of power hitting. Power hitting would eventually become a staple amongst all professional hitters within baseball.

All of this, the impact, the culture, the dominance, the increase in fanbase, all occurred within Babe Ruth’s career prior to 1927. As Babe Ruth approached the 1927 baseball World Series, many fans were excited to witness Babe Ruth expand on his already iconic legacy.

Baseball’s Introduction to Commercial Radio Broadcasts

The 1920s saw a major rise in industrialization and consumerism amongst Americans. Rapid industrialization allowed for the creation of innovations and technologies which became accessible to everyone within the public. Radios were a significant part of this trend as radio broadcasts became the mainstream form of media amongst Americans during the 1920s. Prior to the radio, individuals would find information or news via newspapers. However, newspapers varied based on the local region they were printed in. With the introduction of the radio, Americans all over the country were finally able to receive the same mainstream broadcasts and news, serving as a monumental step forward for mainstream media.

The modernization of mainstream media through radio broadcasts also revolutionized the world of baseball as well. Prior to the radio, fans had to attend live baseball games in person in order to witness live play-by-play action. Although fans were able to read about the game in the newspapers, these articles were not able to capture the authenticity or excitement of a baseball game. The radio changed this by providing live baseball action directly to the consumer. Fans of the game were able to tune into baseball games at the comfort of their own homes.

^{United Press. “Today’s Radio Programs.” The Brattleboro Daily Reformer, October 6, 1927.}

Newspapers suddenly became a resource for fans looking to tune into baseball games. The image above depicts a section highlighting the times for radio broadcast in a 1927 newspaper called The Brattleboro Daily Reformer. Rather than reading about baseball games in the newspaper, fans all over the nation would flip to the “Today’s Radio Programs” page in order to see when the World Series was being broadcasted. After examining this newspaper segment, it becomes clear that radio broadcasts attracted fans from various cities throughout America. Cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Kansas City, Louisville, and New York City all participated in broadcasting the 1927 World Series to local fans.⁶ Despite the fact that most of these cities did not have a participating baseball team within the 1927 World Series, there was still an active effort from fans everywhere to listen in on this highly anticipated championship series featuring the already legendary Babe Ruth. Once again, this trend highlights the growing popularity behind baseball and Babe Ruth as a celebrity during the 1920s. In an unprecedented manner, fans everywhere were able to tune into the same mainstream sport.

Team Loyalty

Leading up to the 1927 series, fans often remained loyal to a specific team which was usually dictated by the region a fan lived in. While many supported Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, a plethora of fans showed their support for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1927 championship series. Fan loyalty becomes apparent when analyzing the various newspaper articles on the 1927 World Series. Within the newspaper, The Evening Star published in Washington D.C., one article starts off by stating in big bold letters “Yanks should win or be arrested”. This article proceeds to acknowledge the superstar athletes playing for the Yankees and displays full confidence in their ability to win. Another article within the same newspaper is titled “Yank Twirlers Have Big Edge On Bucs in Series Experience”. This article dives into the previous successes of this Yankees team and explains the advantages they hold coming into the 1927 World Series. To end off the sports section of The Evening Star, a chart displaying Babe Ruth’s home runs for the season is displayed. This chart serves to bring excitement to the fans as many are anticipating a legendary performance from the hitter within the league.⁷

However, newspapers from other rival cities do not hold this optimism towards Babe Ruth and the Yankees going into the 1927 World Series. Within an article titled “King of Sluggers Has Sunk to Depths and Scaled Glorious Heights in Previous Battles For Championship” published by The Boston Globe, the writer of this paper actively slanders Ruth as a baseball player. This article claims that Babe Ruth is overrated and highlights how Babe Ruth chokes in high pressure moments. The Boston Globe even goes as far as to publish a cartoon which tarnishes Babe Ruth’s legacy.⁸

Considering that Ruth no longer played for Boston’s team the Red Sox, it would make sense that fans from Boston would no longer view Ruth as a favorite and instead would see him as a rival.

The Pittsburgh Press, the local newspaper for fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates, displayed excitement for the Pirates prior to the 1927 World Series. In a newspaper article titled “Pirates’ ‘Inner Works'”, this page displays excitement for the players representing the Pirates by highlighting how talented this roster is. The author of this article talks about the strengths of each player on the Pirates and how their skills and athletic ability will lend itself to success during this championship series. The front of this article features images of the hitters playing for the Pirates with hall of famer Pie Traynor being showcased in the center of this newspaper.⁹ This newspaper seems to disregard the excitement behind Babe Ruth’s return to the big stage, and instead promotes the Pirates’ success leading into the World Series.

A Timeline Featuring Babe Ruth’s Career

The 1927 World Series

Heading into the 1927 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees both boasted very strong regular season records with the Yankees holding a record of 110-44 and the Pirates holding a record of 94-60. Despite the fact that both teams were strong regular season performers, the Yankees were the clear favorites leading into this series. The Yankees held a strong line of hitters called the “Murderers’ Row” which decimated the rest of the league during the 1927 season.¹⁰

Game 1: October 5, 1927, at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh

Yankees win 5-4

The Pirate’s top performer for this game was center fielder Lloyd Waner. The Pirates initially took the lead to start the game. Despite his success during the game, Waner’s efforts would fall short as the Yankees would prevail with the win. Yankees’ pitcher Waite Hoyt would have a fantastic game, displaying elite pitching throughout the matchup. The Yankees showed off a deep roster full of strong hitters which helped them close the lead and eventually secure the win.

Game 2: October 6, 1927, at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh

Yankees win 6-2

The Yankees took the lead early and would continue to dominate for the rest of the game. Star hitter Lou Gehrig was the star of this game as he made his mark with his own home run.

Game 3: October 7, 1927, at Yankee Stadium, New York

Yankees win 8-1

The Yankees dominated this game as Babe Ruth hit two home runs to help the Yankees secure a strong lead. Herb Pennock pitched a perfect no-hitter that game which contributed to the Yankees supremacy in Game 3.

Game 4: October 8, 1927, at Yankee Stadium, New York

Yankees win 4-3

The Pirates fought hard during their final game. However their efforts were unable to prevent the clean sweep for the New York Yankees. Lou Gehrig would score the winning run to clinch the win for New York.¹¹

Best Players

Babe Ruth: Babe Ruth had a slow start during Games 1 and 2. However his superstardom would flash during Game 3 as he was able to hit two home runs which secured a strong lead for the Yankees.

Lou Gehrig: Gehrig was the star of this series and an offensive juggernaut for the New York Yankees during this series. He contributed to some of the most vital hits and runs during this series.

Herb Pennock: Herb Pennock would pitch a no-hitter in Game 3 which would contribute to the dominance displayed by the Yankees in Game 3.¹²

The Yankees Dominate the Pirates

The 1927 World Series was an extremely lopsided matchup with Yankees clearly being the stronger team. Although the Pirates had a well constructed roster, the Yankees were just a deeper team. Various players such as Pennock, Hoyt, Gehrig, and Ruth stepped up during key moments within this series to help the Yankees secure the 1927 championship title. With a strong supporting cast surrounding Babe Ruth, it became clear during the series that the Yankees would decimate Pirates. With a strong regular season record and a clean sweep during the World Series, 1927 New York Yankees would solidifie themselves as one of the greatest teams in MLB history.

The overwhelming success of the New York Yankees would set a tone for the MLB and the culture behind Yankees baseball. The 1927 baseball World Series reinforced the Yankees dynasty of the 1920s. This same championship series further advanced Babe Ruth’s already legendary career with his fifth World Series championship.

Furthermore, the Yankee’s dynasty aligns with the themes of the “Roaring 20s”. A seemingly prosperous time filled with economic prosperity, rise in consumerism, and growing popularity amongst celebrities, the winning culture of the Yankees fed this trend of success which characterized the 1920s in America. Although the 1927 baseball World Series may seem like a friendly competition amongst elite baseball athletes, there is a deeper story of culture and achievement behind this championship series.

Citations

Bibliography

1. Magazine, Smithsonian. “How Babe Ruth Changed Baseball.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, 16 Aug. 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-babe-ruth-changed-baseball-51810018/#:~:text=In%20his%20first%20season%20with,the%20new%20live%2Dball%20era. ︎
2. Magazine, Smithsonian. “How Babe Ruth Changed Baseball.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, 16 Aug. 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-babe-ruth-changed-baseball-51810018/#:~:text=In%20his%20first%20season%20with,the%20new%20live%2Dball%20era. ︎
3. Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. Hill and Wang, 2007. ︎
4. Leavy Jane (October 8, 2018). “How Babe Ruth Became the Model for the Modern Celebrity Athlete”. Sports Illustrated. ︎
5. Arbuckle, Alex (July 10, 2012). “Babe Ruth, On and Off the Field”. The New Yorker. ︎
6. United Press. “Today’s Radio Programs.” The Battleboro Daily Reformer, October 6, 1927. ︎
7. “Keller B., John “Yanks Should Win or Be Arrested.” The Evening Star, October 4, 1927.” ︎
8. Lardner, Ring “World Series Crowds Gather in Rain at Pittsburg” The Boston Globe, October 4, 1927 ︎
9. Higgins, Miller “Pirates’ ‘Inner Works'” The Pittsburgh Press, October 4, 1927 ︎
10. “Babe Ruth.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Feb. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth. ︎
11. 1927 World Series at WorldSeries.com via MLB.com ︎
12. 1927 World Series at WorldSeries.com via MLB.com ︎

Henry Louis Gehrig better known as Lou Gehrig was born June 19, 1903, at 1994 Second Avenue in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan.  His parents were German immigrants. His father was a sheet metal worker who was often unemployed because of his alcoholism and epilepsy, and his mother was a maid, the hardest working supporting the family, and the main parental figure in the family. Gehrig had a hard childhood; he grew up very poor with three siblings and a father who struggle with substance abuse. His family moved around living in different low-income neighborhood in New York City.  Gehrig was also the only one of his four other siblings to live past childhood. He had two sisters that died from illness at an early age and a brother that passed away in infancy. 

Gehrig earned the name “Lou” to differentiate him from his father who was also named Henry Gehrig.  Lou’s baseball talents were first noticed at a high school baseball game at Cubs Park which is now known as Wrigley Field.  A crowd of about ten thousand watched as Gehrig’s team was losing by two and Gehrig hit a game winning grand slam out of a major league ball park. This was highly noticed because he was 17 years old at the time.  He graduated high school and attended Columbia where he studied engineering for two years.  After two years of college, school proved too hard for Gehrig so he switched paths to pursue a career in baseball. 

Gehrig was discovered by a Yankee’s scout for his abilities as a lefty power-hitter, and signed with the Yankees April 30^th, 1923.  Earlier that month the new Yankee stadium opened for the first time.  Gehrig was in and out of the minor league system for his first two years on a Yankee’s contract eventually becoming a full-time Yankee in 1925 in which he posted a career year and only got better moving forward.  In 1927, Gehrig had one of the best years as a batter of all time and received the award of American league MVP (most valuable player).  Gehrig went on to play another twelve years as a Yankee setting record and becoming a seven-time all-star, six-time World Series champion, two-time MVP, a triple crown, and other great achievements.  By the end of his career, he held the record for most consecutive games played in the major league (2,130 games). Gehrig spent his entire career as a Yankee until being diagnosed with ALS, which many people know as Lou Gehrig’s disease, later dying in 1941 from the illness.  Before his death Gehrig made one of the most iconic speeches of all time known as the “Luckiest Man” speech in which he said farewell to the sport and team he loved. He died in his home in Riverdale, an area in the Bronx. After his death many streets, plazas, and other landmarks were named after the inspiring individual.

Sports in the 1920’s

In the 1920’s, the economy was booming like never before, which began a change in daily life and activities in society. Many workers had more disposable income and leisure time, new stadiums and gymnasiums were built, and newspapers increased their coverage of sports.  Improvements in roads made it possible for fans to travel to athletic events in other cities. For the first time, large numbers of Americans began to pay money to watch other people play sports. The 1920’s is also considered the “Golden Age of American Sports”, or the “Age of the Spectator” because of the huge rise in the following and viewing of sports, which only made the sports better.  The invention of radio also made it easier for fans to keep up with their favorite teams when they were not able to go watch the game.  During the 20’s, baseball was by far the most popular sport that people to watch, follow and play.  In 1923, Yankee stadium opened and has since been an iconic landmark of the great city of New York. It was the first stadium in North America with three tears, and seated 58,000 fans. The Yankees went on to win the World Series that same year and the players’ fame grew. 

Gehrig’s Rise to fame (1920’s)

Lou Gehrig signed a contract with the New York Yankees in 1923, but he would not become a full-time starter until 1925.  Gehrig sat behind first baseman Wally Pipp, until he came in for a struggling Pipp early in the 1925 season and earned himself a starting spot.  Two years after Gehrig became a starter he won MVP and a World Series with the Yankees, launching him into fame amongst sports fans.  Gehrig became an icon of the late 1920’s which was an era defined by a booming economy. This is the era in which professional athletes began to gain a lot of recognition because of the huge spike in attendance at sporting events and the radio broadcasts of the games. This made Lou Gehrig an icon to most people because of his very strong abilities in the sport on one of the best teams. Gehrig became widely known in the 20’s and throughout his career the public’s view of him would be the same for many years.  Gehrig was considered one of the best baseball players which began in the 20’s.  He is still considered one of the best players of all time still today, but at the end of his career his image was altered somewhat.  Gehrig retired from baseball in the late 1930’s because he was diagnosed with a disease they did not know much about at the time, ALS.  This brought much attention to the existence of the disease and it gained the nickname “Lou Gehrig’s disease”.  This did not taint him as one of the greatest players, but it brought much attention to his death not as much his career.  Lou Gehrig became the well-known legendary player because of the 1920’s, because the era was the beginning of the boom in sports and fans.  The 1920’s were known as the “golden age in sports” because of the huge boom in the sports world.

Sources

Gehrig, L., & Gaff, A. D. (2021). Lou Gehrig: The lost memoir. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

The San Bernardino County Sun 12 Oct 1927, Page Page 21. Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s – Newspapers.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.newspapers.com/image/50594369/?terms=Lou+Gehrig+most+valuable+player&match=1

Summer, J. (n.d.). Sports in the 1920s. NCpedia. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.ncpedia.org/sports/golden-age-sports

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, February 12). Lou Gehrig. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig

Babe Ruth, whose real name was George Herman, was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. For as big of a star Ruth was during his life, there are not many details about his life growing up. However, what is known is that his family is of German descent and that he grew up speaking german with his family. It is also known that Ruth was not a well-behaved child and was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys where he would learn discipline, get an education, and learn a trade by the time he graduated. But Ruth would learn another skill that was not part of the curriculum at the school. St. Mary’s had recreational sports for the students and encouraged their students to play. It is recorded by one of the school officials that Ruth was laughing at the other students’ attempts at playing baseball. When pushed onto the field to see if he could do better, he shined and the school official who witnessed the event allowed Ruth to travel off school grounds with the team to play baseball.

The Rise of Babe Ruth on the Diamond

A year after he graduated from St. Mary’s Ruth signed with a minor-league baseball team that was based in Baltimore and an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Ruth continued to shine and surprise his coaches and teammates. He dominated in all of the Spring Training games he participated in, and when the regular season rolled around he was the number one pitching option and number one hitting option for the Baltimore Orioles. The team did well, but not well enough to sustain any profits, leading the owner of the Orioles to sell Ruth to the Boston Red Sox where his career would inevitably takeoff. Ruth rose in popularity and his early success fueld Boston to three World Series titles, the most consecutive titles the Red Sox had one in a five year span. However Ruth’s time in a Red Sox uniform was cut short due to the organization selling Ruth to the New York Yankees, an event that sparked the longest running sports curse in any sport. The Curse of the Bambino, as it became known, was the excuse for the lack of playoff appearances and World Series titles for the Boston Red Sox after the sale of Babe Ruth to the yankees. In fact the Red Sox did not make the playoffs after winning the World Series in 1918 until 1946 and did not win another World Series title until 2004.

Babe takes on the Big Apple and the Roaring ’20s

Putting Boston behind him, Ruth transitioned full time to an outfielder and because he was no longer pitching his hitting numbers sky rocketed. He single handedly changed the culture of baseball from a long dragged out grind, to a high scoring exciting affair. In his first season with the Yankees he surpased his previous single-season homerun record that he set in 1919 with a new record of 54 homeruns, on top of that, no other player in baseball hit more than 19 homeruns. “The Great Bambino” set himself miles away from everyone else, but he was not finished. In just his second year in New York he set the 1921 season on fire by putting up statistics that had never been heard or thought about until he produced them, for example, Ruth drove in 171 RBIs (Runs Batted In), scored 177 runs himself, had a batting percentage of .376 which is very good even today, a slugging percentage of .846, and he broke the single-season homerun record for the third year in a row with a new total of 59. The 1921 season was also the first season since Ruth’s arrival that the Yankees would reach the playoffs and while they did not win, they did reace the World Series.

Ruth’s domination continued throughout the 1920s and he became such a huge part of the Yankees and New York sports culture that when a new stadium was built in 1923 it was deemed “The House that Ruth Built”. Outside of New York Babe made the Yankees the most recognizable and cheered for team across the United States and which ever foreign countries wanted to hear about professional sports in the U.S. Ruth continued his homerun success leaving fans and players in aw as the ball flew high and far out of the stadium or into the crowd. After previously breaking the single-season homerun record three consecutive years in a row, he did not tough it, until 1927 when he broke it and set it for the last time in his lifetime with a new number of 60. A record that would not be broken until 1974. Along with immense personal success, “The Sultin of Swat” and his homeruns propelled the Yankees to the start of thier winning culture and dynasty. The New York Yankees had not won a playoff game or even reached the playoffs for that matter until the 1921 season, Babe Ruth’s best season statistacly. During Ruth’s fourteen seasons with the Yankees the “Bronx Bombers” would go on to win four World Series titles.

Overview

Babe Ruth was an American and baseball icon during his time in the major leagues. He singly handedly boosted the popularity of baseball in the 1920s with his homerun hitting ability and overal superhuman ability at the plate. Ruth would finish his career in 1935 with the Boston Braves. In an overall view of Ruth’s career he would retire with seven World Series titles, one AL MVP (American League Most Valuable Player), fifty six major league records, was inaugurated into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, had his number 3 retired by the Yankees, and inducted into the Bosoton Red Sox team Hall of Fame. Ruth would lose a battle to cancer on August 18, 1948 and to this day is still an important figure in American Baseball.

Jeffrey Horn

Jeffrey Horn is a senior history major at Ramapo College and will graduate in May 2023. He is also a captain of the Ramapo College Swim team and aspires to become a High School history teacher after gradutation.

Overview

The “War to end all Wars” had ended, not before devastating Europe and inflicting massive amounts of suffering on the people. The Paris Peace Conference met in January of 1919 and immediately got to work creating ways to resurrect the European countries devastated by the war. The conference, which ended with the Treaty of Versailles, did not include the enemy powers of World War I and dished out harsh punishment and an impossible amount of reparations they needed to be paid by Germany. As the conference went on and the world tried to resume life and rebuild a question that seemed minuscule rose throughout Europe and to the Americas, who would host the Olympics? The games had not taken place since 1912 in Stockholm since the 1916 games that were to be held in Berlin but were canceled due to the First World War raging through Europe, and Germany being one of the war’s aggressors. The decision was made by the Fourteenth International Olympic Committee to award Belgium with the 1920 games due to the excessive suffering the people of Belgium had faced during Germany’s occupation and oppression of the country. It was also seen as an opportunity to rebuild Belgium and celebrate the perseverance shown by the Belgian people during World War I.

Significance

The games were of great significance because it was the first time since World War I that countries around the world converged together for peace. The theme of unity and peace was made the focal point of the games and shown in many different aspects, for example, these were the first games to use the Olympic flag which has the five interlocking rings that represent the five continents and unity. The creator of the flag, and the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin wanted it to also be a symbol of unity and cooperation through sports. So that if all else is failing in the world, sports and the Olympics could be a sign of unity. The Antwerp games were also the first Olympic Games where athletes said the Olympic oath which states that athletes will compete respectfully and without discrimination or hate toward others. Doves were released for the first time at the opening ceremony to symbolize peace further, and it was the first game to use a lifted platform gold, silver, and bronze medal ceremony. The 1920 games also included art competitions to show the importance of the culture and creativity of individual countries and to send a message of peace and moving towards a brighter future, along with athleticism to promote friendly competitions without the use of arms and violence. There were multiple locations for the athletic events that took place during the months of the games in Antwerp. The game organizers and Belgian officials were very particular about the venues that were chosen so that the spectators and the entire world could witness the beauty, resilience, and best of Belgium even after being harshly oppressed during World War I. Below is a map that outlines the specific locations of some of the events that took place during the 1920 Summer Olympic Games, and there is a picture associated with each location to give a visual of what the “stages” looked like for the athletes.

Overview

The 1920 games were a beacon of peace and unity for years to come and reminder that no matter no matter what is happening in the world, or if it descending into chaos, sport and the Olympics will always be an event for a staple of unity.

Bibliography

“Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics-Athletes, Medals & Results.” Olympics.com. Accessed March 2023. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/antwerp-1920.

Olympic games. Accessed April 2023. https://www.sport-olympic.gr/sp/index.php/olympic-games.

Jeffrey Horn

Jeffrey Horn is a senior history major at Ramapo College and will graduate in May 2023. He is also a captain of the Ramapo College Swim team and aspires to become a High School history teacher after gradutation.

It’s October 16th, 1923. The Yankees just received their inaugural title against the New York Giants in a 6-4 matchup after have three years in a row worth of matchups for the World Series. But the question is how, did the Yankees get to this first big win for the infamous baseball team from New York? The 1923 season was a year of the 3 R’s rebirth, redemption, and revenge. All it would take was the magic of Babe Ruth, a new stadium, and determination, and the Yankees finally receive the title. The Yankees manager at the time, Miller Huggins led the team to their straight pennant with a 98-53 record. The Yankees eventually took second place of the Detroit Tigers in the American League. At the end of the season they avenged their 1921 and 1922 losses by the Giants in 6 games.

Ruth’s house is built

When considering the Yankees’ rebirth, the iconic first Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 after the Yankees had used two fields, Hilltop Park from 1903-1912 and the Polo Grounds from 1912-1922. The Yankees had previously shared Polo Grounds with the New York Giants which they eventually grew out of because of the Polo Grounds’ rent prices. The Yankee owners Ruppert and Huston made a move to build a new stadium that would be called “Yankee Stadium.” Ruppert would eventually buy out Yankee Stadium and become the sole owner of the New York Yankees. The raising of rent at the Polo grounds allowed Ruppert and Huston to make a profitable move to buy land located in the Bronx across the Harlem River for 675,000 ( worth 10,310,189 now!) After making this move, land the was starting to be struck in May of 1922. The Stadium would take 11 months to build and cost $.2 million. Yankee Stadium was the first ballpark with three tiers of seating, and the first ballpark referred to as a stadium. The Stadium opened on April 18th, 1923. This stadium held 58,000 people. At the end of the season Babe Ruth ended up winning the MVP award, rightfully so because he held the Yankees to winning the World Series.

Hit the ground running/ Opening Day!

On January 5th, 1920, the Yankees announced that they purchased a heavy-hitting outfielder George Herman “Babe” Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for the sum of $125,000. You may ask why I mentioned a baseball player transaction from three years prior, this is because after seeing Ruth play at the other ballparks, the owners of the Yankees decided to build Yankees Stadium around Ruth, in which the construction ended up being excellent in the fact that Ruth ended up hitting a home run in the first game in the new stadium. The stadium was nicknamed “The House that Ruth Built” Ruth had doubled Yankees’ attendance which helped the team pay for the new stadium. Babe Ruth had beaten his whole team with stats with 205 hits, 151 runs, 41 home runs, 131 runs batted in and a .393 batting average. Babe Ruth hit his first home run here to start off the World Series. Not only was Babe Ruth a great significance to the team but Louis Gehrig also had a debut during the 1923 season.

Breakdown of World Series Games

Game 1- October 10th 1923, Loss of a shoe?

The Giants won the first game of the World Series. With a total of 55,307 people in attendance. The Giants scored 5 runs, while the Yankees scored 4. The Giants had eight hits, the Yankees had twelve, and there was one error by the Yankees. Babe Ruth didn’t hit the game-winning home run. Casey Stengel, a Giants outfielder at the time, would go on to become a Hall of Fame manager for the Yankees 25 years later. Stengel’s shoe was loose as he rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run, causing him to lose his shoe after the home run! He was the first to hit a home run! Waight Hoyt took the Yankee’s mound in the game only lasted two and third innings, allowing four runs on four hits. Busch took over Hoyt’s relief and pitched well until Casey Stengel hit a game-winning inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning.

Game 2- October 11th, 1923 TIED

Game 2 is won by the Yankees! The game drew a crowd of 40,402 people. The Yankees scored four runs per game, while the Giants had two. The Yankees had ten hits to the Giants’ nine, and the Giants had two errors. Babe Ruth returned to the Polo Grounds for Game 2, a park where he loved to hit, and he responded by hitting two home runs in the Yankees’ 2-1 win to tie the series at one game apiece. In addition to Babe Ruth’s two solo home runs, Herb Pennock was instrumental in the Yankees’ victory. Pennock, the American League’s winning percentage leader in 1923, pitched all nine innings in game two, allowing just two runs and tying the series at one game apiece.

Game 3 October 12th, 1923 1-0? For A World Series?!

With 62,420 fans in attendance, the Yankees lost again in the third game. The Giants got one run on four hits, while the Yankees got four hits and one error. When the series returned to Yankee Stadium for game three, the game was scoreless until Casey Stengel hit his second World Series home run. .The only run that was scored and one to nothing Giants triumph it was the first one to nothing game in World Series history in which the only run scored was on a home run newspapers the next day had a great time reporting that the record of the series was Stengel two Yankees one. Casey Stengel was indeed the game three hero, but he came down to a pitching duel between Art Nehf and Sam Jones. The Giants starter won the game by pitching a six-hit shutout, putting the Yankees in a two-game deficit.

Game 4 October 13th, 1923

With 46,302 fans in attendance, the Yankees have yet another victory. However, after losing two of the first three games of the 1923 series, the Yankees came back to win Game Four, scoring six runs in the second inning to pull ahead of the New York Giants, and that was all the Yankees needed in an 8-4 victory over their Gotham City rivals Bob Shawky, After allowing three runs over seven and third innings, he earned the win at the end of a 15-year career. Herb Pennock contributed to the win by recording his first career postseason save.

Game 5 October 14th, 1923 The smelling of a victory

The Yankees put on a show for nearly 63,000 Yankee Stadium fans in game five. They burst out of the gate once again, scoring seven runs in the first two innings. Joe Dugan and Bob Musa combined for six RBI, while Joe Bush pitched a one-run three-hit shutout.

Game 6 October 15th, 1923 World Series CHAMPIONS

This game drew a total of 34,172 spectators. Babe Ruth hit a solo home run in the first inning of Game 6 at the Polo Grounds, but the Yankees fell behind four to one-eighth inning when a five-run rally led the Yankees to their first-ever World Series championship. Babe Ruth, Bob Musil, and Herb Pennock all pitched in to help the Yankees win game six. Finally, the Yankees won their first World Championship, and it was in their new stadium, which drew crowds of over 60,000 people and broke the record for ticket sales at the time of over one million dollars.

The Yankees impact on the 1920s.

The 1920s were the Golden Age of American Sports and the Age of the Spectator. The 1920s was the decade of baseball and pastime as well. Because of the strong economy of the time workers had more leisure time to enjoy bigger stadiums and gymnasiums. With the building of stadiums was also the introduction to the radio and newspapers to keep coverage of baseball during this decade. The 1920s was also the emergence of the most famous athlete in the United States, Babe Ruth who was the right fielder for the Yankees not only with his skills but his personality everyone loved Ruth. Ruth was one of the heroes when you reflect on the 1920s. Because of how big baseball was for the 1920s it was a great set up for spectators after the 1920s and decades to come. Baseball in the 1920s lined up perfec

Timelime

https://time.graphics/embed?v=1&id=807d8f184cc2b79f81b88bcab59ee688

Bibliography:

Times, T., n.d. The New York Times Story of the Yankees.

New York Yankees Newspaper Book told through the Washington Post

Bain News Service, Publisher. Opening DayYankee Stadium baseball. , 1923. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014715917/.

Roberta Carbah

I am a Ramapo senior who is majoring in Elementary Education. I am taking this course because I want to be certified in Social Studies at the middle school level. I graduated from Bergen Community College in the Spring of ’19 with an associate’s in Early Childhood Education. Currently, I am working  at Starbucks as a Shift Supervisor until I obtain my degree from Ramapo.