Shows / Starting Line 1928
Starting Line 1928
Starting Line 1928 is an oral history project documenting the lived experiences of female distance running pioneers
Episodes
- Starting Line 1928
14 | Shawanna White
Shawanna White is a semi-professional runner and physical education teacher in Columbia, South Carolina. Nearly every weekend, you can find her on the starting…
- Starting Line 1928
13 | Billee Pat Connolly
When 16-year-old Billee Pat Connolly stepped up to the start line of the 800-meter race at the 1960 U.S. women's Olympic Track and Field Trials, she had no…
- Starting Line 1928
12 | Julie A. Brown
Julie A. Brown grew up in Billings, Montana, as one of five, and began her running career when she followed in her sister's footsteps and joined the high…
- Starting Line 1928
11 | Michele Tiff-Hill
Michele Tiff-Hill grew up in Cleveland, into a very athletic family, but didn't get into running herself until her late 20s. Instead, she focused on her music…
- Starting Line 1928
10 | Ann Gaffigan
At the 2004 Olympic Trials, Ann Gaffigan won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and set an American record. But the women's steeplechase wasn't yet an Olympic event…
- Starting Line 1928
9 | Madeline Manning Mims
While attending Tennessee State University, Mims became the first African-American woman to compete in the 800 meters and the first American to win Olympic…
- Starting Line 1928
8 | Robin Campbell Bennett
Between 1972 and 1976, Robin Campbell Bennett competed in events across the United States, winning and medaling at many of them. In 1974, she set the American…
- Starting Line 1928
7 | Charlotte Lettis Richardson
Charlotte Lettis Richardson begin running in 1971 and competed at the national and international level in distances from the 800 meters to 30K. She started a…
- Starting Line 1928
6 | Jacqueline Hansen
Jacqueline Hansen is a two-time world record holder in the marathon; she was the first woman to break the sub-2:40 mark with her 2:38.19 world record time. She…
Starting Line 19285 | Freddi Carlip
"I look back now and I don't think of myself as a trailblazer. We were setting the standard for other women and encouraging them." Freddi Carlip started…
- Starting Line 1928
4 | Alisa Harvey
"I wasn't known for anything else but my running. That's what I kind of latched onto. I didn't have many extras, like summer camps or lots of material goods…
- Starting Line 1928
3 | Judy Shapiro-Ikenberry
"They [the men] didn't like it when we beat them, but they were very accepting and very encouraging. It was always the officials that were the problem, you…
- Starting Line 1928
2 | Marilyn Bevans
"All I can do you know that let people know that Black folks can run—we have been running. I've had calls, people asking me, Marilyn, how can we get more Black…
- Starting Line 1928
1 | Bjorg Austrheim-Smith
"I was doing it for my own survival, because I was a stay-at-home mom. And I felt that I needed to do something for me, because I felt like my brain was dying…
- Starting Line 1928
Starting Line 1928: Trailer
The first modern Olympics were held in 1896. Women runners, though? They weren't called to the starting line until 1928. After made-up reports of women…