Shapley, Haley. Strong Like Her: A Celebration of Rule Breakers, History Makers, and Unstoppable Athletes. New York: Gallery Books. Pp. 272. $29.99 Hardcover. Reviewed by Richard Ravalli A scan of social media pages devoted to bodybuilding publications and events will reveal images of heavily built women with accompanying comments that they are “gross,” and that…
By Andrew McGregor “Athletics, as it is conducted in many colleges today, is not even good for the handful,” University of Chicago President Robert M. Hutchins wrote in 1938. He worried about the overemphasis on sports in higher education and what the pressure for athletic profits meant for the welfare of students. “It has been…
Whitney-Wei, Jordan. Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2020. Pp. 185. Notes, bibliography, and index. $39.95 paperback. Reviewed by Vicki Valosik In 1912, Katharine Curtis (nee Whitney) became the first woman to swim across Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. Under the headline “Madison has a youthful Annette Kellerman,” a…
Nathanson, Mitchell. Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original. University of Nebraska Press, 2020. Pp. 407. Acknowledgments, bibliography, epilogue, index, notes, photographs, prologue, $34.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. Jim Bouton’s diary of the 1969 major league baseball season may seem tame today, but Ball Four’s release 50 years ago caused a furor. A book…
Sport in American History 