The Bicycle Girls: American Wheelwomen and Everyday Activism in the Late Nineteenth Century

THE BICYCLE GIRLS: AMERICAN WHEELWOMEN AND EVERYDAY ACTIVISM IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY By Christine Neejer A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History — Doctor of Philosophy 2016 ABSTRACT THE BICYCLE GIRLS: AMERICAN WHEELWOMEN AND EVERYDAY ACTIVISM IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY By Christine Neejer When the mass-market bicycle emerged in the late 1880s, women jumped at the chance to ride. Despite its popularity, the historiography of American bicycling is quite limited. Women’s bicycling has remained understudied by scholars of women’s history, sport history, and nineteenth-century American life. This dissertation responds to these gaps by repositioning women from the margins to the center of bicycling scholarship. It argues that in the 1890s, women used bicycling as the front lines to challenge widespread gender constraints and the test- ing grounds to put their new political ideologies of empowerment and independence into prac- tice. In small towns and large cities, wheelwomen used their everyday experiences as cyclists as the inspiration and authority to rewrite nineteenth-century norms of athletics, dress, harassment, medicine, work, public space and travel. They viewed recreation and activism as joint projects to embody and enact their visions for individual fulfillment and sociopolitical change, and they successfully used this consumer good to engage in the politics of everyday life in unprecedented ways. Despite powerful opponents and rampant inequalities, wheelwomen used this seemingly apolitical technology as an opportunity to answer the woman question on their own terms, sus- tain the Woman’s Rights Movement during a decade with few major victories, and construct new visions of modern, American womanhood well before the age of suffrage and automobiles. Copyright by CHRISTINE NEEJER 2016 In loving memory of Marie Neejer (1920-2016) !iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It has been a long journey to the Ph.D., and I am very grateful to have achieved this goal at Michigan State University. I am deeply indebted to the faculty and staff of the Department of History for their investment in my education. My dissertation committee has been my anchor throughout this process. Dr. Lisa Fine, my advisor, has been my unwavering advocate since I first set foot on campus. Her dedication to the field of Women’s History as both a scholar and teacher are unmatched. Dr. Susan Sleeper- Smith brought the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to life and helped me see what I could add as a historian of women and gender. I am touched by her willingness to support my work and I am inspired by the depth and breadth of her scholarly contributions to the historical profession. Throughout my program, Dr. Helen Veit offered me opportunity after opportunity to take on new challenges, try new things, and think big. As her student, teaching assistant, and research assistant, Dr. Veit always treated me as a colleague while she simultaneously went out of her way to advise me as a student and see me as a whole person. Her kind words stuck with me long after she said them. I am very fortunate to have worked with her on many exciting projects, including What America Ate. Lastly, while I have had many incredible professors in my academic career, I have yet to meet any professor as caring, generous and thoughtful as Dr. Michael Stamm. Dr. Stamm has served as a role model for me in numerous ways, including how to cope with the challenges of teaching, how to manage high workloads with grace, and how to structure my daily life as an academic. Most importantly, Dr. Stamm has been a breath of fresh air, championing humility and gratitude over blind ambition and elitism in every conversation. !v Along with my committee, I am fortunate to have learned from many fantastic faculty in our department. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Pero Dagbovie. Dr. Dagbovie’s introductory historiography seminar has been the foundation of my perspective on this program, this university, and the historical profession as a whole. As I began my program, Dr. Dagbovie’s early and enthusias- tic support were vital to me; he taught me to think like a historian and to think that I could be a historian regardless of any barriers I faced. His continued support of my project and field of study sustained me throughout my time at Michigan State. I would like to thank Dr. Vanessa Holden and Dr. John Waller for their willingness to advise my independent studies, both of which were tremendously helpful. I would also like to thank Dr. Aminda Smith, Dr. Mark Wad- dell, Dr. Walter Hawthorne, Dr. Georgina Montgomery, Dr. Safoi Babana-Hampton and Elyse Hanson for their support. I am indebted to the Department of History and the College of Social Science for their financial support, including assistantships, teaching positions, awards, fellow- ships, and travel to conferences and archives. I would also like to thank the staff and archivists at the Library of Congress, the Lily Library of Indiana University, the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan, and the Frances Willard Memory Library and Archives, especially Janet Olson. While my path to the Ph.D. ends at Michigan State University, many people have been instrumental in getting me here. This dissertation started as a lowly seminar paper in Dr. Nancy Theriot’s class as part of my master’s program in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Louisville. I would have never had the gumption to apply for doctoral programs in history without Dr. Theriot’s thoughtful and life-changing advice. I would also like to thank Dr. Diane Pecknold, Dr. Ann Taylor Allen and Dr. Anne Caldwell, whose encouragement and enthusiasm !vi launched my seminar paper into a thesis and applications for doctoral programs. Regardless of my academic or professional pursuits, I always think of myself as a social worker, and I have the faculty at the University of Vermont to thank for it. My social work skills have been the frame through which I have understood what kind of academic, and person, I want to be. I owe particu- lar thanks to Dr. Susan Roche, Dr. Brenda Solomon and Dianne Monaco in this regard. My journey to the Ph.D. began as an undergraduate at American University, and I would have never had such a rewarding experience without the mentorship of Dr. Mindy Michels. She encouraged me to think big about my life and inspired a sense of confidence and belonging that continues to fuel me. Outside of my academic and professional life, there have been three core people who have made this dissertation possible. First, the debt I owe to Liz Militano is one I can never re- pay. Her willingness to care for me as teenager put me on a completely different path in life. My accomplishments offer only a glimpse of how she shaped my life for the better, and I will be for- ever grateful. Second, this dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother, Marie Neejer. She did not live to see this completed, but her influence on is this dissertation is just like her influence in my life — it is everywhere. She taught me to live in service to others, to treat people with com- passion and understanding, to celebrate ordinary people, and to appreciate the academic life that she never had the opportunity to pursue. She is the greatest testament that being an intellectual is about passion, curiosity and the love of learning, not degrees and resumes. Third, I could have never completed this program without my partner, Kristen Staley. Kristen’s kindness, thoughtful- ness, encouragement and humor have sustained me through every up and down and every degree. Like most things in life, this dissertation is meaningful because I can share it with her. !vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: THE TRAILBLAZERS OF WOMEN’S BICYCLING: PROFESSIONAL RACERS, PIONEERS AND WOMEN PHYSICIANS..................................29 The Rise and Fall of Women’s Professional Cycling........................................................30 Pioneering the Women’s Safety..........................................................................................42 “Best of all Tonics”: Women Physicians and Bicycling.....................................................53 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................74 CHAPTER 2: “FREEDOM’S BATTLE”: BICYCLING, DRESS AND HARASSMENT IN THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITY........................................................................................75 Wheelwomen and the Public Culture of Street Harassment.............................................82 Respectability and Inconspicuousness as Survival Strategies..........................................91 Rational Dress and Resisting Harassment........................................................................97 The Ramifications of Women’s Cycling Dress...............................................................110 The Revitalization of the Dress Reform Movement.......................................................119 Conclusion......................................................................................................................122 CHAPTER 3: “THE BEST MEDICINE”: WHEELWOMEN, HEALTH AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION..........................................................................................................125

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