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ABSTRACT
In October 1920, 15 American women arrived in Plymouth, England, to take part in the first transatlantic field hockey tour. Three more exchanges between the nations would take place before the end of the decade, and an Irish team also visited the US in 1925. English physical educationalists had introduced field hockey to America in the late-1890s and numerous physical training college graduates were employed by US colleges to teach the game prior to World War One. But demand for British coaches grew exponentially after the Americans’ tour and the subsequent visit to the US of an All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) team in October 1921. After the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA) was formed in January 1922, one of the first things it did was ask the AEWHA to source suitably qualified coaches to travel to the US. Eight women were selected and would play a pivotal role in not only exchanging sporting knowledge, but also in fostering the friendships and comradery that would influence field hockey’s development globally in the interwar period.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Helen G. Armfield, ‘Some Impressions of America, in J Muir (ed)’, Bergman Österberg Physical Training College Magazine no. 5 (1924): 173, bergmanosterbergunion.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BOPTC-1924-web.pdf (accessed September 23, 2023).
2 Jo Halpin, ‘“Will You Walk Into Our Parlour?”: The Rise of Leagues and Their Impact on the Governance of Women's Hockey in England 1895–1939’ (PhD diss., University of Wolverhampton, 2019), 8–12, wlv.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/2436/622971/Halpin_PhD_Thesis.pdf
3 Jane Claydon, In Celebration of the United States Field Hockey Centenary 2022: The Part Played by Dartford Old Students in the Development of Women’s Hockey in the United States of America (August 2022), 7, Bergman Österberg Union website, bergmanosterbergunion.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/USFH-Centenary-29th-August-2022-web.pdf (accessed September 23, 2023).
4 Dave Day, ‘“Untiring” in Her Efforts on Behalf of the Team and Discharging Her Duties “in the Most Capable Manner”; Female Coaches in Edwardian Britain’, Sport in History, 16 November 2023, doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2023.2279974
5 Jean Williams, A Contemporary History of Women’s Sport, Part One; Sporting Women, 1850–1960 (Routledge, 2014), 169–70.
6 Maarten van Bottenburg, ‘Beyond Diffusion: Sport and Its Remaking in Cross-Cultural Contexts’, Journal of Sport History 37, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 44–45.
7 Armfield, ‘Some Impressions of America’, 173.
8 Williams, A Contemporary History of Women’s Sport, 189.
9 Geoff Watson, ‘“See These Brilliant Exponents of the Game”: The England Women’s Hockey Team Tour of Australia and New Zealand, 1914’, International Journal of the History of Sport 33, no. 17 (2016): 2116.
10 Halpin, ‘Will You Walk Into Our Parlour?’, 36–49.
11 Claydon, In Celebration of the United States Field Hockey Centenary, 7.
12 Eric Meany, But Wait, There’s More … , Striking Circle: the Early History of College Field Hockey in the United States, December 1, 2014, strikingcircle.com/2014/12/01/but-wait-theres-more/#more-106 (accessed November 2, 2021).
13 Editorial Notes, Hockey Field, December 21, 1911, 147.
14 American Ladies’ Hard Lesson, The Guardian, November 4, 1920, 4.
15 Hockey Field, October 13, 1921, 9. The other AEWHA players were: Phyllis Scarlett, Edith R Clarke, Kitty Lidderdale, Evelyn Willcocks, Muriel Clay, Phyllis Stewart, Elsie Ward, Wilhelmina Baumann, Phyllis Price, Margaret Amos and Cicely Warner. Mabel Gaskell was the umpire.
16 Hockey Field, December 15, 1921, 8.
17 Boston Globe, October 23, 1921, 20.
18 Hockey Field, December 15, 1921, 8.
19 Hockey Field, December 22, 1921, 10.
20 Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 1922, 20.
21 Ibid.
22 Susan L Smith, Mustard Gas and the Health Consequences of World War II in the United States (Rutgers University Press, 2017), 101–2.
23 Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 1922, 20.
24 Ibid.
25 Hockey Field, February 2, 1922, 4.
26 Western Morning News, February 3,1922, 2.
27 Hockey Field, February 23, 1922, 4.
28 Hockey Field, October 5, 1922, 5.
29 Hockey Field, October 19, 1922, 7–8.
30 Jane Claydon, The Development of Women’s Hockey 1885–1970, With Particular Reference to the Role Played by Madame Bergman Österberg’s Students and Those Who Followed, April 2021, 20, bergmanosterbergunion.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Dartford-hockey-publication-updated-7th-June-2021-web.pdf, (accessed July 24, 2023).
31 Hockey Field, October 19, 1922, 7–8.
32 Hockey Field, October 5, 1922, 10.
33 Claydon, The Development of Women’s Hockey 1885–1970, 24; Dundee Courier, May 26, 1922, 3.
34 Alderley & Wimslow Advertiser, July 2, 1937, 12.
35 Claydon, The Development of Women’s Hockey 1885–1970, 24; Hockey Field, October 5, 1922, 10.
36 Hockey Field, October 5 1922, 10.
37 Library of the Society of Friends, Open, Healthy, Scrupulously Clean, With a Liberal Table: the Armfields and Their Temperance Hotel, Quaker Strongrooms blog, September 6 2018, quakerstrongrooms.org/2018/09/06/open-healthy-scrupulously-clean-with-a-liberal-table-the-armfields-and-their-temperance-hotel (accessed 24 July 2023).
38 James Ormandy, Hockey’s Religious Foundations Part 3: Quakers Play and Support Hockey’s Development, April 19 2021, Playing Pasts website, www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/gender-and-sport/hockeys-religious-foundationspart-3quakers-play-and-support-hockeys-development (accessed October 12, 2023).
39 Dundee Courier, December 27, 1922, 5.
40 Lancashire Evening Post, May 14, 1904, 4; Preston Grasshoppers RFC website, www.pgrfc.co.uk/the-club/history/1869-1900 (accessed October 29, 2023).
41 David Jones, Scottish Chair Making: The Case of Francis East & Co and East Brothers, Dundee, Regional Furniture Vol 10 (1996), 100–11, regionalfurnituresociety.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/scottish-chair-making-the-case-of-francis-east-8c-co-and-east-brothers-dundee-david-jones.pdf
42 Dundee Evening Telegraph, January 24, 1938, 2.
43 Dundee Courier, December 27, 1922, 5.
44 Gertrude East, Coaching Hockey in America, Dundee Courier, October 31, 1922, 6.
45 Helen G Armfield, Hockey in America, Hockey Field, November 30, 1922, 10.
46 Gertrude East, Coaching Hockey in America, Dundee Courier, October 19 & 31, 1922, 6. 68F is 20C; 78–80F is around 25–26C.
47 Gertrude East, Coaching Hockey in America, Dundee Courier, October 19, 1922, 6.
48 Hockey Field, January 11, 1923, 10.
49 Ibid.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 Battle Creek Enquirer, November 28, 1922, 5.
53 Boston Globe, October 19, 1922, 23.
54 Poughkeepsie Eagle News, October 4, 1922, 9.
55 Ibid.
56 Helen G Armfield, Hockey in America, Hockey Field, November 30, 1922, 10.
57 Dundee Courier, December 27, 1922, 5.
58 Nottingham Journal, November 17, 1920, 7. The Times (November 5, 1920, 5), The Gentlewoman (December 4, 1920, 886) and the Birmingham Gazette (November 10, 1920, 4) were among the other newspapers and magazines to comment on the disadvantages of the Americans’ outfit.
59 Hockey Field, October 19, 1922, 7.
60 Liverpool Daily Post, December 21, 1922, 5.
61 Ibid.
62 Hockey Field, January 11, 1923, 10.
63 Dundee Courier, December 27, 1922, 5.
64 Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 1922, 23.
65 Western Daily Press, March 10, 1924, 6.
66 Armfield, Some Impressions of America, 174.
67 Honorary Secretary’s Report, AEWHA AGM minutes May 3, 1924. University of Bath Archive (UoBA) A/2/4.
68 Williams, A Contemporary History of Women’s Sport, 167.
69 IFWHA, Report of the Triennial Conference Geneva 1930, UoBA, B/1/1, 21.
70 Janet Owen and Ware Torrey, ‘Quaker Field Hockey Ace Received Big Ovation at Reception in England’, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 23, 1933, 14.
71 Ibid & Janet Owen and Ware Torrey, ‘Foreign Hockeyists Honor Yankee Girls’, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 25, 1933, 14.
72 Dundee Courier, December 27, 1922, 5.
73 Armfield, Some Impressions of America, 173.
74 Dundee Courier, August 30, 1932, 3.
75 Armfield, Some Impressions of America, 173.
76 East, Coaching Hockey in America, Dundee Courier, October 31, 1922, 6.
77 Nancy Tomkins and Pat Ward, The Century Makers: A History of the All England Women’s Hockey Association 1895–1995 (AEWHA, Shrewsbury, 1995), 92.
78 Thanet Advertiser, May 4, 1948, 2.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jo Halpin
A professional journalist, I was awarded my PhD in sport history from the University of Wolverhampton in November 2019, having gained my Master’s in sport history from De Montfort University in 2013. My main area of research is women’s hockey, particularly in the UK and Ireland up to the mid twentieth century.