The history of women’s basketball in Canada has been influenced by key individuals who have challenged systemic barriers and social mores demanding appropriate female behaviors and activities. In this study I examine the sporting contributions of Vancouverite Ruth Wilson, whose involvements in the sport of women’s basketball from the mid 1930s through the 1960s was significant. Though several studies have highlighted the importance of women’s basketball in a North American context (Hall, 2002; Cahn, 1994; Kidd, 1996; Hult and Trekell, 1991), to date there has not been a significant examination of the development of basketball for women and its early advocates in western Canada. Celebrating heroines of sport is not a straightforward matter. The concept of the heroic, as Hargreaves points out, must be examined through an analysis of the struggles and achievements of many women whose stories have been excluded or forgotten from previous accounts of women’s sports and female heroism (Hargreaves, 2000). Thus my account of Ruth Wilson’s contributions provides a unique case study of one womans persistent and wide ranging efforts to change the ways in which girls and women participated in a sport which brought them freedom to compete, professional opportunities and in some cases, national status. This study employs several methodological techniques. Data was collected through primary and secondary document analysis in conjunction with semi-structured open ended interviews. Ruth Wilson’s contributions have been highlighted through the narratives of female sportswomen whom she mentored, assisted, befriended and coached and who are still living today to provide their memories about her role in changing the landscape of women’s basketball in Canada.

The history of women’s basketball in Canada has been influenced by key individuals who have challenged systemic barriers and social mores demanding appropriate female behaviors and activities. In this study I examine the sporting contributions of Vancouverite Ruth Wilson, whose involvements in the sport of women’s basketball from the mid 1930s through the 1960s was significant. Though several studies have highlighted the importance of women’s basketball in a North American context (Hall, 2002; Cahn, 1994; Kidd, 1996; Hult and Trekell, 1991), to date there has not been a significant examination of the development of basketball for women and its early advocates in western Canada. Celebrating heroines of sport is not a straightforward matter. The concept of the heroic, as Hargreaves points out, must be examined through an analysis of the struggles and achievements of many women whose stories have been excluded or forgotten from previous accounts of women’s sports and female heroism (Hargreaves, 2000). Thus my account of Ruth Wilson’s contributions provides a unique case study of one womans persistent and wide ranging efforts to change the ways in which girls and women participated in a sport which brought them freedom to compete, professional opportunities and in some cases, national status. This study employs several methodological techniques. Data was collected through primary and secondary document analysis in conjunction with semi-structured open ended interviews. Ruth Wilson’s contributions have been highlighted through the narratives of female sportswomen whom she mentored, assisted, befriended and coached and who are still living today to provide their memories about her role in changing the landscape of women’s basketball in Canada.

The history of women’s basketball in Canada has been influenced by key individuals who have challenged systemic barriers and social mores demanding appropriate female behaviors and activities. In this study I examine the sporting contributions of Vancouverite Ruth Wilson, whose involvements in the sport of women’s basketball from the mid 1930s through the 1960s was significant. Though several studies have highlighted the importance of women’s basketball in a North American context (Hall, 2002; Cahn, 1994; Kidd, 1996; Hult and Trekell, 1991), to date there has not been a significant examination of the development of basketball for women and its early advocates in western Canada. Celebrating heroines of sport is not a straightforward matter. The concept of the heroic, as Hargreaves points out, must be examined through an analysis of the struggles and achievements of many women whose stories have been excluded or forgotten from previous accounts of women’s sports and female heroism (Hargreaves, 2000). Thus my account of Ruth Wilson’s contributions provides a unique case study of one womans persistent and wide ranging efforts to change the ways in which girls and women participated in a sport which brought them freedom to compete, professional opportunities and in some cases, national status. This study employs several methodological techniques. Data was collected through primary and secondary document analysis in conjunction with semi-structured open ended interviews. Ruth Wilson’s contributions have been highlighted through the narratives of female sportswomen whom she mentored, assisted, befriended and coached and who are still living today to provide their memories about her role in changing the landscape of women’s basketball in Canada. / Education, Faculty of / Kinesiology, School of / Graduate

The original Muscle Beach, in Santa Monica, California, is considered by many to be the birthplace of the modern physical fitness movement. From 1934 to 1958, the strip of sand south of the Santa Monica Pier offered acrobats, gymnasts, weightlifters, and bodybuilders a place to learn, train, and perform feats of physical culture. This milieu helped shape the careers of fitness luminaries like Jack LaLanne, Vic Tanny, and Steve Reeves; it also catalyzed the development of modern fitness equipment and health clubs. The site's popularity peaked in the post-war period, especially over summer holidays, when up to 2,000 spectators crowded around an elevated platform by the boardwalk to watch the annual Mr. and Miss Muscle Beach contests and other acrobatic and strength exhibitions. In the American imagination, Muscle Beach became a symbol of the mid-century California dream, the promise of sunshine, health, and good living captured in iconic images of the toned and tan beach athletes. Despite these real and symbolic legacies, Muscle Beach remains an understudied site, especially from scholarly perspectives. The essays that constitute this work examine Muscle Beach using three different historical points of engagement. In the first study, I offer a theoretical perspective for unpacking the widespread influence of Muscle Beach. Drawing from oral history interviews with several Muscle Beach legends, I argue that the role of Muscle Beach in ushering in the modern fitness movement is best understood as the result of social processes of innovation. In the second study, I explore the abrupt closure of Muscle Beach by the city of Santa Monica in late 1958 and I evaluate the civic legacy of the site for the city. In the third and final study, I analyze the use of Muscle Beach in the fitness magazines of Joe Weider. I argue that Weider deployed a mythic Muscle Beach, creating an imaginative take on the California dream for his readers and customers. Combined, these studies advance the historical understanding of Muscle Beach as both a real and symbolic place. / text

O presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar como ocorreu o processo histórico da prática do automobilismo de rua em Porto Alegre, no período de 1926 a 1956. A pesquisa foi sustentada em fontes impressas e orais, bem como na apresentação de fotografias disponibilizadas pelo acervo do Museu Brasileiro do Automobilismo, localizado na cidade de Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que o automobilismo de rua contribuiu para construir uma representação de modernidade, a partir do cenário esportivo, delineado em Porto Alegre. Esta prática teve seu início em meados da década de 1920, registrando a realização de um grande número de provas automobilísticas, na década de 1930, com a criação da segunda equipe de competição do Brasil, a Escuderia Galgos Brancos. Os gaúchos sofreram influência, nos traçados das provas e nos modelos de carro – as carreteras - dos países vizinhos Uruguai e Argentina, não só técnico, mas de pilotagem. No período de 1950, o Rio Grande do Sul torna-se polo do automobilismo nacional, com o maior número de provas realizadas e destaque para os pilotos gaúchos nas provas automobilísticas. O automobilismo estimulou a indústria nacional automobilística e de autopeças, estabelecendo em seus regulamentos a obrigatoriedade dos competidores usarem, em seus carros, componentes de fabricação nacional. Por fim, evidenciou-se que, no período estudado, o automobilismo estava inserido no imaginário dos gaúchos como uma prática de modernidade, paixão e vitórias dos ases do volante. / This study aims to identify how the historical process of street racing took place in Porto Alegre, from l926 to l956. The research is supported in printed and oral sources as well as in the display of photographs provided by the Brazilian Automotive Museum, located in the city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state of Brazil. The results achieved demonstrate that street racing has contributed to build a representation of modernity departing from the sports setting outlined in Porto Alegre. This practice began in the mid-l920 decade and, in the 1930 decade, a large number of motor racing was recorded due to the creation of a second competition team in Brazil, the White Greyhounds racing cars owners pool – Escuderia Galgos Brancos. The so-called gaúchos – people from the southern state of Brazil – have been influenced on competition layout and car models – carreteras – by Uruguai and Argentina, neighboring countries, not only in technical, but also in piloting aspects. In the 1950 decade, Rio Grande do Sul became the main center of Brazilian motor sport because it was the state where the largest number of car competitions took place and also because of the oustandingly performances of the southern pilots in them. Car racing has stimulated the national motoring and auto parts industry by establishing in its regulation a basic requisite: the competitors had to use components, manufactured in Brazil, in their cars. Finally it became evident that during the period that has been studied car racing was inserted into the imagination of the gaúchos as a practice of modernity, passion and victories of the the steering wheel aces.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar como ocorreu o processo histórico da prática do automobilismo de rua em Porto Alegre, no período de 1926 a 1956. A pesquisa foi sustentada em fontes impressas e orais, bem como na apresentação de fotografias disponibilizadas pelo acervo do Museu Brasileiro do Automobilismo, localizado na cidade de Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que o automobilismo de rua contribuiu para construir uma representação de modernidade, a partir do cenário esportivo, delineado em Porto Alegre. Esta prática teve seu início em meados da década de 1920, registrando a realização de um grande número de provas automobilísticas, na década de 1930, com a criação da segunda equipe de competição do Brasil, a Escuderia Galgos Brancos. Os gaúchos sofreram influência, nos traçados das provas e nos modelos de carro – as carreteras - dos países vizinhos Uruguai e Argentina, não só técnico, mas de pilotagem. No período de 1950, o Rio Grande do Sul torna-se polo do automobilismo nacional, com o maior número de provas realizadas e destaque para os pilotos gaúchos nas provas automobilísticas. O automobilismo estimulou a indústria nacional automobilística e de autopeças, estabelecendo em seus regulamentos a obrigatoriedade dos competidores usarem, em seus carros, componentes de fabricação nacional. Por fim, evidenciou-se que, no período estudado, o automobilismo estava inserido no imaginário dos gaúchos como uma prática de modernidade, paixão e vitórias dos ases do volante. / This study aims to identify how the historical process of street racing took place in Porto Alegre, from l926 to l956. The research is supported in printed and oral sources as well as in the display of photographs provided by the Brazilian Automotive Museum, located in the city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state of Brazil. The results achieved demonstrate that street racing has contributed to build a representation of modernity departing from the sports setting outlined in Porto Alegre. This practice began in the mid-l920 decade and, in the 1930 decade, a large number of motor racing was recorded due to the creation of a second competition team in Brazil, the White Greyhounds racing cars owners pool – Escuderia Galgos Brancos. The so-called gaúchos – people from the southern state of Brazil – have been influenced on competition layout and car models – carreteras – by Uruguai and Argentina, neighboring countries, not only in technical, but also in piloting aspects. In the 1950 decade, Rio Grande do Sul became the main center of Brazilian motor sport because it was the state where the largest number of car competitions took place and also because of the oustandingly performances of the southern pilots in them. Car racing has stimulated the national motoring and auto parts industry by establishing in its regulation a basic requisite: the competitors had to use components, manufactured in Brazil, in their cars. Finally it became evident that during the period that has been studied car racing was inserted into the imagination of the gaúchos as a practice of modernity, passion and victories of the the steering wheel aces.

In 1934, four Argentine-born soccer players participated for the Italian team that won the FIFA World Cup on home soil. As children born to parents who participated in a wave of Italian immigrants that helped reshape Argentine society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these four players were part of a larger trend where over one hundred Argentine soccer players of Italian descent were signed by Italian clubs in the late 1920s and through the 1930s. This thesis examines the liminal space between Italian and Argentine identity within the broader context of diaspora formation in Argentina through a look at these four exemplars of the transatlantic talent shift. Utilizing sources that include Italian and Argentinian newspapers and magazines, national federation documents, and census and parish records, the thesis reveals the fluidity and temporality of national identity among Italo-Argentine immigrant offspring during the early twentieth century.

The purpose of my study is to explore the early history of the Colwood Golf and Country Club as a way of understanding one aspect of settler colonialism – that is to study how certain tracts of Indigenous land were transformed into a rigidly controlled space where the natural environment was manipulated to exclude certain undesirable plants and non-human creatures, just as the social environment restricted access to a self-defined elite with prescribed cultural norms including behaviour, language, and protocols. Established in 1913, the Colwood Club became an important sporting space for upper-class individuals, and through its organisation, rules, by-laws, and entry process, the Colwood Club was fashioned as an exclusive space in Victoria’s sporting culture and remained so into the 1930s. Through formal and informal measures, the Club’s leadership and membership erected and strengthened various barriers that kept various individuals from joining based on their class, character, gender, race, and religion, among other criteria. Because of these measures, the Club’s property, which included a golf course and a clubhouse, became a restricted and controlled space in which a select number of individuals could enjoy the privileges that the Club offered. By doing a microhistory of the early years of the Colwood Golf and Country Club, I explore both the restrictive measures put in place by the Club and certain cultural concepts that influenced the decisions to make the Club an exclusive space, and demonstrate how this reflected larger trends in Victoria’s upper-class society. / Graduate

O presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar como ocorreu o processo histórico da prática do automobilismo de rua em Porto Alegre, no período de 1926 a 1956. A pesquisa foi sustentada em fontes impressas e orais, bem como na apresentação de fotografias disponibilizadas pelo acervo do Museu Brasileiro do Automobilismo, localizado na cidade de Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que o automobilismo de rua contribuiu para construir uma representação de modernidade, a partir do cenário esportivo, delineado em Porto Alegre. Esta prática teve seu início em meados da década de 1920, registrando a realização de um grande número de provas automobilísticas, na década de 1930, com a criação da segunda equipe de competição do Brasil, a Escuderia Galgos Brancos. Os gaúchos sofreram influência, nos traçados das provas e nos modelos de carro – as carreteras - dos países vizinhos Uruguai e Argentina, não só técnico, mas de pilotagem. No período de 1950, o Rio Grande do Sul torna-se polo do automobilismo nacional, com o maior número de provas realizadas e destaque para os pilotos gaúchos nas provas automobilísticas. O automobilismo estimulou a indústria nacional automobilística e de autopeças, estabelecendo em seus regulamentos a obrigatoriedade dos competidores usarem, em seus carros, componentes de fabricação nacional. Por fim, evidenciou-se que, no período estudado, o automobilismo estava inserido no imaginário dos gaúchos como uma prática de modernidade, paixão e vitórias dos ases do volante. / This study aims to identify how the historical process of street racing took place in Porto Alegre, from l926 to l956. The research is supported in printed and oral sources as well as in the display of photographs provided by the Brazilian Automotive Museum, located in the city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state of Brazil. The results achieved demonstrate that street racing has contributed to build a representation of modernity departing from the sports setting outlined in Porto Alegre. This practice began in the mid-l920 decade and, in the 1930 decade, a large number of motor racing was recorded due to the creation of a second competition team in Brazil, the White Greyhounds racing cars owners pool – Escuderia Galgos Brancos. The so-called gaúchos – people from the southern state of Brazil – have been influenced on competition layout and car models – carreteras – by Uruguai and Argentina, neighboring countries, not only in technical, but also in piloting aspects. In the 1950 decade, Rio Grande do Sul became the main center of Brazilian motor sport because it was the state where the largest number of car competitions took place and also because of the oustandingly performances of the southern pilots in them. Car racing has stimulated the national motoring and auto parts industry by establishing in its regulation a basic requisite: the competitors had to use components, manufactured in Brazil, in their cars. Finally it became evident that during the period that has been studied car racing was inserted into the imagination of the gaúchos as a practice of modernity, passion and victories of the the steering wheel aces.

Imagine for a moment waking up one morning to find that what or with whom you had come to identify racially was built on a foundation of ambiguities, silences, deceptions and sacred secrets. This scenario offers snapshot of Effa Louisa Brooks Manley’s life on the color line. Manley, former co-owner of the Negro League Baseball franchise (1935-1948), the Newark Eagles, disrupts American notions about what it means to be Black or white. A white mother and two black stepfathers raised her with her siblings as a Negro. However, it was not until Manley was a teenager that her mother revealed to her that her biological father also racially identified as white. This study examines the way Effa Manley performed identity at the boundaries of blackness and whiteness from the turn of the 20th century through 1945. I argue that Manley was more than a white woman who simply passed for Black. She reconciled being Black and becoming white, by exploiting the American mythology of race and culturally identified as a Negro. I explore how her self-identification complicates racial and ethnic belonging, by analyzing the identity choices she made while traversing the fault lines of race in her early life as well as the way she performed identity in the interviews she gave before her death in 1981.