‘The fastest skaters in the world’: the Transcontinental Roller Derby, 1935–1937

ABSTRACT

During the Depression Era, American entrepreneur and promoter, Leo Seltzer, invented a new sport – roller derby. Combining the endurance of entertainment spectacles, such as dance marathons and walkathons, with the popular pastime of roller skating, Seltzer drew large crowds to watch as skaters attempted to travel thousands of miles on a track. In these dismal economic times, Seltzer found success in his new sport. One reason for his success comes from his purposeful inclusion of women, both as skaters and spectators. Drawing from his prior experiences in walkathons, Seltzer included women as often as men. He also sought them out specifically as spectators, marketing the sport, at times, to a female audience. Seltzer’s ingenuity allowed roller derby to find a measure of success and a niche place in the American sporting landscape.

KEYWORDS:

• Roller derby
• Great Depression
• women’s sport
• American sport fads
• endurance crazes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday and Since Yesterday: A Popular History of the 20’s and 30’s (New York: Bonaza Books, 1986), 79.

2 Frank M. Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers: The Dance Marathon Fad (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press, 1993), 5.

3 Frank M. Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track: The Life and Times of the Roller Derby (Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1971), 74.

4 Ibid., 72. Deford clearly forgot William G. Morgan’s contribution to American sporting life, volleyball, and that Naismith was Canadian.

5 Matthew Algeo, Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America’s Favorite Spectator Sport (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2014), viii.

6 David H. Lewis, Roller Skating for Gold, American Sports History Series 5 (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 1997), 9, 12.

7 Ibid., 13.

8 Algeo, Pedestrianism, 22.

9 Ibid., 22–3.

10 Lewis, Roller Skating for Gold, 19.

11 Carolyn E. Storms, ‘‘There’s No Sorry in Roller Derby’: A Feminist Examination of Identity of Women in the Full Contact Sport of Roller Derby’, The New York Sociologist 3 (2008): 72.

12 Lewis, Roller Skating for Gold, 26.

13 Ibid., 30.

14 Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, 6.

15 Ibid., 12; John B. Kennedy, ‘Good-Night Lady’,Collier’s, July 23, 1932, 27–8.

16 Carol Martin, Dance Marathons: Performing American Culture of the 1920s and 1930s (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1994), 42.

17 Ibid., 42.

18 Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, 21.

19 David E. Kyvig, Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1940: How Americans Lived Through the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and the Great Depression (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004), 209.

20 Ibid., 209–20.

21 Dixon Wecter, The Age of the Great Depression (New York: Macmillan, 1948), 219.

22 Attendance at Major League Baseball games fell 40% from 1930 to 1933. Big Ten football receipts dropped below $2 million for the first time in years in 1931. However, professional football actually gained spectators from 1934 to 1939. Ken Belson, ‘Apples for a Nickel, and Plenty of Empty Seats’, The New York Times, January 6, 2009, sec. Baseball, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/sports/baseball/07depression.html; Official 2017 National Football League Record & Fact Book (New York: National Football League, 2017), 542; Wecter, The Age of the Great Depression, 220.

23 ‘‘Featsters’ Here Again for Publicity, Cash, Fun’, The Literary Digest, July 28, 1934, 10.

24 Martin, Dance Marathons, xix.

25 Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, 18.

26 Ibid., 17.

27 Ibid., 35.

28 Ibid., 35–7.

29 Leo A. Seltzer, ‘What Future--Walkathons?’, Billboard, December 29, 1934, 220, 223.

30 Martin, Dance Marathons, 120.

31 Jerry Seltzer, Telephone Conversation, Telephone, December 3, 2010. Notes in possession of author.

32 Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, 35.

33 Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track, 74; Sarah Webber, ‘Across the United States on Roller Skates: The Early Years of the Transcontinental Roller Derby, 1935–1942’, Historical Skating Overview, July 1998, 3. Although sources note this as a fact, I have been unable to locate the specific article in Literary Digest during this time period that spurred Seltzer’s invention.

34 Charles Bartlett, ‘Roller Derby Returns--It’s the Thriving Babe of Sport’, Chicago Tribune, November 3, 1937, 23.

35 Keith Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam: The Authorized Story of an Unauthorized Sport (Santa Rosa, CA: Squarebooks, 1999), 4.

36 Lewis, Roller Skating for Gold, 24.

37 Ibid., 25; ‘Bicylces Built for All and Roller Skates Come Back’, The Literary Digest, July 8, 1933, 30.

38 Lewis, Roller Skating for Gold, 25.

39 Quentin Reynolds, ‘Round & Round’, Collier’s, August 22, 1936, 15.

40 Ibid., 15.

41 ‘Clarice Martin, B. McKay Win Roller Skate Derby’, Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1935, 21.

42 ‘50 Roller Skaters Exhibit at Pavilion’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 7, 1935, 9; ‘Roller Derby to Start Today; 25 Teams Entered’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 8, 1935, 11–12; ‘7 Teams Tie for Lead as Roller Derby Starts’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 9, 1935, 18; ‘John Rosasco, Gene Vizena Win Roller Contest’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 25, 1935, 8.

43 ‘Roller Skaters Open Coliseum Marathon Today’, Chicago Tribune, December 25, 1935.

44 ‘Joe Kleats Tips Record for Mile at Roller Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 23, 1935, 14; ‘Contestants in Roller Derby Here’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 25, 1936, 15; Harold Tuthill, ‘30 Skaters Open 21-Night Roller Derby at Coliseum’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 20, 1937, 11.

45 ‘Roller Derby Makes Bow at Auditorium Wednesday’, Minneapolis Star, July 31, 1937, 5; ‘Roller Derby Entries Hit 22’, Minneapolis Star, July 29, 1937, 17; ‘New Board Track for Roller Derby Being Constructed’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 25, 1937, 14; ‘Roller Derby Coming’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 15, 1936, 29.

46 ‘Girl Skater Out of Roller Derby’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 2, 1936, 20.

47 Bob Bohne, ‘Roller Skaters End Up Where They Start, But They Get Paid for Whirling Around’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 1, 1936, 16; ‘Roller Derby Makes Bow’, 5.

48 ‘Roller Skating Derby to End Next Sunday Night’, Chicago Tribune, September 15, 1935, sec. B, B8; ‘7 Teams Tie’, 18.

49 ‘Five Teams Tied for Lead in Opening of Roller Derby’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 27, 1936, 16; ‘15 Teams Open Roller Derby Here Tonight’, Minneapolis Star, August 4, 1937, 14; Tuthill, ‘30 Skaters Open 21-Night Roller Derby’, 11.

50 ‘Fifteen Teams Entered’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 18, 1936, 20; ‘50 Roller Skatesrs’, 9.

51 ‘Roller Derby Makes Bow’, 5.

52 ‘Long Jams Feature Roller Skate Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 22, 1936, 35; ‘Skaters Hit Half-Way Mark in Derby Tonight’, Minneapolis Star, August 17, 1937, 13; ‘Girl Skater Breaks Collarbone, Returns’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 16, 1935, 15.

53 ‘Jam by Jarful’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 18, 1936, 17.

54 ‘Long Jams Feature Roller Skate Derby’, 35.

55 ‘C.-J. Team Takes Honors Over Times Roller-Skate Team’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 8, 1937, 14; ‘Roller-Skaters Fail in Attempt to Break Marks’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 9, 1937, 19.

56 ‘Skaters Reach Half-Way Mark at Auditorium’, Minneapolis Star, August 18, 1937, 13.

57 The ‘world’ record of this is questionable, since records seemed to be continually broken.

58 ‘Special Races On’, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 13, 1937, 17.

59 ‘Stampley-Scholl Win Special Roller Race’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 27, 1935, 45; ‘Joie Ray Wins Roller Dery Match Race; Nygra-Thomas Lead’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 7, 1935, 16.

60 ‘Big Spill Comes in Skate Race’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 9, 1936, 20.

61 ‘C.-J. Boys Are to Skate at Roller Derby Tonight’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 1, 1937, 19.

62 ‘Skaters on Good Behavior as Ban Put on Fighting’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 18, 1937, 36.

63 ‘Advertisement--Thrills! Spills!’, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 13, 1937, 14.

64 Bohne, ‘Roller Skaters End Up Where They Start’, 16.

65 ‘Roller Skaters in 900th Mile at Coliseum Today’, Chicago Tribune, January 5, 1936, sec. A, A4.

66 ‘Big Spill Comes in Skate Race’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 9, 1936, 20.

67 ‘E. Ray Hurt in Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 15, 1935, 10.

68 ‘Derby Skater Is Injured at Arena’, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 1937, 30.

69 ‘Rosasco-King Team Is Victor in Roller Derby’, Chicago Tribune, November 9, 1936, 23.

70 ‘New Albany Boy Eliminated from Roller Derby Test’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 16, 1937, 18.

71 ‘Steals Lap in Roller Derby, Skating Solo’, Chicago Tribune, October 23, 1936, 31; ‘Esther Runne Rejoins Skate Partner; Gain’, Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1936, 22.

72 ‘Roller Derby Makes Bow’, 5; ‘Bogash Duo Leads Skaters in Grind’, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1937, 20; ‘Punches Tossed by Skaters’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 8, 1936, 4.

73 ‘Bogash Duo Leads’, 20.

74 ‘Girls Battle to Enliven Racing at Roller Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 28, 1937, 35; ‘Runne Barred’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 31, 1937, 12.

75 ‘Skaters on Good Behavior’, 36; ‘Half-Mile Marks Are Tied at Roller Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 4, 1936, 17; ‘Skater Is Ruled Out of Race After Fight’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 6, 1936, 12.

76 Seltzer, Telephone Conversation.

77 Mark Dyreson, ‘Icons of Liberty or Objects of Desire? American Women Olympians and the Politics of Consumption’, Journal or Contemporary History 38, no. 3 (2003): 435.

78 While the primary source evidence does not indicate pay disparity based on gender in the Transcontinental Roller Derby, Carolyn E. Storms provides evidence that in the 1970s, women skating stars were paid less than men of similar status. Because both Leo and Jerry Seltzer remained involved in roller derby at this time, it is possible that pay disparity existed under their leadership in the 1930s. For more see: Storms, ‘There’s No Sorry in Roller Derby’.

79 Irwin, ‘Roller Derby’, 45.

80 Dahn Shaulis, ‘Pedestriennes: Newsworthy but Controversial Women in Sporting Entertainment’, Journal of Sport History 26, no. 1 (1999): 32.

81 Ibid., 35–9.

82 Ibid., 44.

83 Gerald R. Gems, ‘Working Class Women and Sport: An Untold Story’, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal 2, no. 1 (1993): 23.

84 Ibid., 18–19.

85 ‘Spill Occurs in Roller Derby as Field Is Reduced’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 19, 1937, 15.

86 ‘Derby ‘Menaced’ by Black Shirts’, Indianapolis Star, October 6, 1937, 13; ‘McDowell-Lyons Team Is Leader in Roller Race’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 27, 1937, 11.

87 ‘Aronson, Hoover Lead Field in Roller Derby’, Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1936, 19.

88 The press reported both men’s and women’s injuries in the newspaper. For example, the Chicago Tribune revealed that Bob Ferson ‘suffered severe burns on his side in a spill.’ See ‘King and Lyons Team Clings to Lead in Derby’, Chicago Tribune, October 16, 1936, 36.

89 ‘Steals Lap in Roller Derby, Skating Solo’, 31.

90 ‘Rest Cots Moved for Roller Skaters’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 11, 1935, 9.

91 Fred G. Hyde, ‘Balminess on Skates at Arena’, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 24, 1937, 17.

92 Reynolds, ‘Round & Round’, 15, 38.

93 ‘Track Ready Tomorrow’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 23, 1936, 15; ‘Roller Derby Opens Tonight; Sixteen Teams to Compete’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 26, 1936, 54.

94 ‘Joie Ray Injured’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 9, 1935, 14.

95 ‘Former Casaba Star Now in Local Roller-Skating Derby’, Oakland Tribune, August 8, 1938, 8.

96 ‘50 Roller Skatesrs’, 10; ‘Roller Derby to Start Today’, 11.

97 ‘Deaf-Mute Is in Race’, Louisville Courier-Journal, April 19, 1936, 51.

98 Ibid., 51.

99 Hyde, ‘Balminess on Skates at Arena’, 17.

100 Virginia Irwin, ‘Roller Derby--It’s a Cat Fight on Wheels’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 3, 1937, 45.

101 ‘Roller Derby List Now 16’, Minneapolis Star, July 28, 1937, 13.

102 ‘Two Teams Tied For Lead at 400 Mile in Roller Derby’, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 30, 1936, 14.

103 ‘Aronson-Thomas Team Gain Seven Point Lead in Derby’, Minneapolis Star, August 13, 1937, 20.

104 ‘Half-Mile Mars Are Tied’, 17; ‘Skater Is Ruled Out of Race After Fight’, 12.

105 ‘Derby Enlivened by Tiff Between Two Girl Skaters’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 30, 1937, 27.

106 ‘Speedy Racing in Roller Derby Which Will End Tomorrow’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 12, 1937, 17.

107 Marci Shear, ‘The Wheels Went Round and Round’, nwitimes.com, https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/the-wheels-went-round-and-round/article_465af661-e44d-52e2-9745-ab32f51149e9.html (accessed July 27, 2018).

108 Kyvig, Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1940, 221.

109 Susan Ware, Holding Their Own: American Women in the 1930s (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982), 32.

110 Ibid., 27.

111 Ibid., 27–8.

112 ‘Sport: Roller Derby’, Time, February 3, 1936, 24.

113 Ibid., 24.

114 Reynolds, ‘Round & Round’, 15.

115 ‘Sport: Roller Derby’, 24.

116 ‘Levy Skates Entire Day at Roller Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 30, 1936, 8; ‘Roop, Atkinson Pace Skaters’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 12, 1937, 17.

117 ‘Buddy Atkinson and Hazel Roop Hold Race Lead’, Indianapolis Star, May 15, 1937, 14; Tuthill, ‘30 Skaters Open 21-Night Roller Derby’, 11.

118 ‘Miss Scholl and Cummings Lead in Roller Derby’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 26, 1937, 15.

119 Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam, 5.

120 ‘King of Roller Skates’, Minneapolis Star, August 10, 1937, 3.

121 Cedric Adams, ‘In This Corner’, Minneapolis Star, August 10, 1937, 9.

122 Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam, 7.

123 Alan Ward, ‘On Second Thought’, Oakland Tribune, August 31, 1938, 12.

124 ‘Roller Derby is Latest Thing in Sports’, Corsicana Daily Sun, June 3, 1938; ‘Topples During Roller Derby’, Sandusky Register, May 5, 1939; ‘This Derby’s Dizzy Affair’, The Daily Herald, September 18, 1936.

125 ‘Runne-Ferson, Johnson-Levy Teams Share First Place in Roller Derby’, Indianapolis Star, April 21, 1937, 14; ‘Roller Derby Opening Finds Keen Competition’, 24.

126 Seltzer, ‘Telephone Conversation’; ‘Roller Derby to Open Tuesday’, Indianapolis Star, September 26, 1937, 11.

127 Paul Gallico, Farewell to Sport (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938), 245.

128 Ibid., 251; ‘Millie Duello, Rosasco Lead in Roller Derby’, Chicago Tribune, October 21, 1936, 24; ‘Aronson, Hoover Lead Field in Roller Derby’, 19.

129 Edward Burns, ‘Gal in Cerise Tights Leads Roller Derby, It’s Rumored’, Chicago Tribune, December 28, 1935, 17.

130 Ibid., 17.

131 ‘Two Teams Tied For Lead at 400 Mile in Roller Derby’, 14; ‘Rosasco-Runne Team Wins in Music Hall Roller Race’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 21, 1936, 15.

132 ‘Roller Derby Opening Finds Keen Competition’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 27, 1937, 24.

133 Stan Baumgartner, ‘Roars and Scraps, Thrills and Spats in Roller Skating’, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 21, 1937, 30; Stan Baumgartner, ‘Skate Grind Gals Spill, Hurl Fists’, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 22, 1937, 22; ‘Nehls, Stambley Win Skate Derby’, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 6, 1937, S5.

134 ‘Thomas-Pierz Team Leads with 84 Points in Roller Derby’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 9, 1937, 17.

135 ‘The Roller Derby’, Cincinnati Enquirer, September 14, 1937, 7.

136 ‘3 More Skaters Lose out in Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 14, 1936, 16; ‘Pace Is Stepped Up’, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 17, 1937, 15; ‘Thomas-Pierz Team Leads’, 17.

137 Tuthill, ‘30 Skaters Open 21-Night Roller Derby’, 11.

138 Calabria, Dance of the Sleepwalkers, 23.

139 Ibid., 23.

140 Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track, 18.

141 ‘Display Ad 21--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, August 20, 1935, 22; ‘Display Ad 19--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, August 30, 1935, 21.

142 ‘Advertisement--Final Week’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 17, 1935, 50; ‘Advertisement--Keep This Coupon’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 17, 1936, 18; ‘Advertisement--Keep This Coupon’, Cincinnati Enquirer, March 31, 1937, 16; ‘Advertisement--5 More Days’, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 17, 1937; ‘Advertisement--Roller Derby’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 15, 1937.

143 ‘Advertisement--Family Day’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 3, 1935, 48; ‘Advertisement--Family Day’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 10, 1935, 44; ‘Advertisement--Final Week’.

144 Seltzer, ‘Telephone Conversation’.

145 Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam, 7.

146 Ibid., 7.

147 ‘Advertisement--Bensinger’s’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 8, 1935, 17; ‘Advertisement--Shrader’s’, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 25, 1936, 8; ‘Advertisement--Kay Jewelry’, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 17, 1937, 26.

148 ‘Advertisement--Max A. Kohen Jewelers’, Minneapolis Star, August 16, 1937, 5; ‘Advertisement--Volkenant’s’, Minneapolis Star, August 23, 1937, 5.

149 ‘Rosasco Winner in Match Skate Race’, Louisville Courier-Journal, November 6, 1935, 14.

150 ‘Display Ad 31--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1936, 31; ‘Display Ad 32--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1935, A2; ‘Display Ad 19--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, November 22, 1936, A2; ‘Display Ad 30--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, November 19, 1936, 31; ‘Display Ad 29--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, December 19, 1937, B3; ‘Display Ad 35--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, December 5, 1937, B4; ‘Cubs and Sox Iron Out Details for City Series’, Chicago Tribune, September 25, 1936; George Shaffer, ‘Can Bears Get Even? Take on Giants Today’, Chicago Tribune, January 27, 1935, sec. A; Arch Ward, ‘Bears Play College All-Stars Aug. 29’, Chicago Tribune, July 2, 1935.

151 Richard Butsch, ‘American Movie Audiences of the 1930s’, International Labor and Working-Class History 59 (2001): 107.

152 Ibid., 110, 117.

153 ‘Display Ad 17--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, May 1, 1937, 19; ‘Display Ad 57--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1937, E3; ‘Display Ad 19--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1937, 21; ‘Display Ad 18--No Title’, 19.

154 Webber, ‘Across the United States on Roller Skates’, 4.

155 ‘Display Ad 11--No Title’, Chicago Tribune, August 26, 1935, 13; ‘Advertisement--Ladies Free Today’, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 23, 1935, 14; ‘Two Teams Tied For Lead at 400 Mile in Roller Derby’, 14.

156 Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam, 7.

157 Ware, Holding Their Own, 3.

158 Irwin, ‘Roller Derby’, 45.

159 Robert Morrison, ‘You Need a Good Blocker and Plenty of Speed to Gain a Lap in the Roller Skating Derby’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 24, 1937, 13.

160 Lou Smith, ‘Sport Sparks’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 2, 1936, 10.

161 Richard McCann, ‘Roller Skating Derby Provides Thrills Galore’, Cumberland Evening Times, May 8, 1937, 7; Richard McCann, ‘Roller Derby Roughness and Spills Are Providing Real Thrills for Spectators’, Muncie Evening Press, May 6, 1937, 18.

162 John Kieran, ‘Sports of the Times: Mooning Over Miami’, New York Times, March 23, 1940, 19.

163 Ibid., 19.

164 L.C. Davis, ‘Sport Salad’, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 17, 1937, 19.

165 Lou Smith, ‘Sport Sparks’, Cincinnati Enquirer, December 22, 1936, 16.

166 Damon Runyon, ‘Runyon Says’, Harrisburg Evening News, April 16, 1936, 23.

167 Damon Runyon, ‘Roller Skaters Will Race from Coast to Coast at Hippodrome’, Wilkes-Barre Evening News, September 7, 1936, 12.

168 Seltzer, ‘Telephone Conversation’.

169 Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track, 83.

170 ‘Roller Derby Opens San Bernardino Run’, San Bernardino County Sun, December 31, 1938, 15; ‘Roller Derby Opens Tonight’, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1938, 29; ‘Roller Derby Scores Big Hit With Hollywood Sports Followers’, Los Angeles Times, June 12, 1938, 30; ‘Roller Derby Wins Hollywood’s Fancy’, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 1938, 11.

171 Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track, 48–71. In his book on roller derby, Deford devotes separate chapters to these two women (Joan Weston and Ann Calvello), the only skaters to receive this individual attention from Deford.

172 Ibid., 105–16.

173 Seltzer, Telephone Conversation.

174 Deford, Five Strides on the Banked Track, 51.

175 Webber, ‘Across the United States on Roller Skates’, 3.

176 Coppage, Roller Derby to RollerJam, 7.

177 Travis D. Beaver, ‘“By the Skaters, for the Skaters” The DIY Ethos of the Roller Derby Revival’, Journal of Sport and Social Issues 36, no. 1 (2012): 26.

178 For an extended discussion of gender and the DIY ethos of contemporary roller derby, see the following: Maddie Breeze, Seriousness and Women’s Roller Derby: Gender, Organization, and Ambivalence (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Madeline Breeze, ‘There’s No Balls in Derby: Roller Derby as a Unique Gendered Sport Context’, International Journal of Sport and Society 1, no. 3 (2010): 121–33; Adele Pavlidis and Simone Fullagar, Sport, Gender and Power: The Rise of Roller Derby (Franham, UK: Ashgate, 2014); Melissa ‘Melicious’ Joulwan, Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track (New York: Touchstone, 2007); Pam R. Sailors, ‘Gender Roles Roll’, Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 7, no. 2 (2013): 245–58.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Colleen English

Colleen English is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Penn State Berks. Her research in both the history and philosophy focuses on gender and its relationship to sport.