Hastings High School
southeast of St. Paul metro area on #61
Years Represented: 1918-1925
The Hastings Star Gazette, April 25, 2002 carried an article, "Girl high school athletics are nothing new - sport for women dates back to 1918 at Hastings High School." The article was written by Dick Darsow, Hastings historian.
Darsow wrote, "In a recent visit with Don Eddy, he mentioned that girls athletics did not begin in our high school with the 1972 Minnesota legislature mandate that girls be given the same access to sporting events available to the boys. He stated that, as early as 1918-1919, girls were competing in athletic programs in our high school, as attested to by the accompanying photo in the 1920 Blue and Gold Hastings High School Yearbook.
"That aroused my curiosity, so I started browsing through old yearbooks and Moccasins, which were the school news magazines of that day, and I got a fast education.
"Let's read an abridged article that appeared in the May 1915 Moccasin:
"Athletics for girls.
Why shouldn't girls have athletics as well as boys? They both have physical bodies to be cared for and exercise when taken in proper quantity is beneficial to both.
"Objections have been made to athletics for girls on the grounds that girls become too rough and unladylike. There are many games girls could play, especially basketball and tennis. These games are both adapted to physical and mental development and exercise muscles not ordinarily used. They also teach us to think and act simultaneously.
"The school board heard that plea and by October, the girls had organized two basketball teams under the direction of Miss Hagerman. They were practicing twice a week, and a schedule of competitive events was going to be published soon.
"Then this picture appeared in the 1920 Blue and Gold yearbook. The Blue and Gold was the name of our athletic teams before they were exclusively called the Raiders during the 1947-1948 school year. The school board approved the establishment of a physical education department in March 1917, and by October 1919, a hiking club was in place that was called 'Winged Feet.'"
The article included the 1918-1919 girls basketball team that consisted of seven players - Front: Frances Lucius, Hildegard Heisler. Middle: Helen Graus, Bertha Thomas, Effie Nesbitt. Back: Pauline Heinen, Irene West.
The article continued: "The March 1924 Moccasin summarized the 1923-24 to South St. Paul 13-10, defeated Farmington 11-8; defeated Farmington in a return game 7-6; and defeated South St. Paul 21-10. In 1925, Hastings also played Prescott, WI."
The article accurately summarized the reasons why girls athletics in Hastings changed from a competitive program to a Girls Athletic Association:
"The Roaring 20s were under way and women had just received their right to vote. Young girls were asserting their newfound freedoms, breaking from old traditions of dress and conduct. In 1923, the nation's female physical education instructors launched a campaign to take control of women's sports, which they felt were often being managed by men to exploit female sexuality for profit. They formed the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation, led by Lou Henry Hoover, wife of the soon-to-be president of the United States, Herbert Hoover.
"In 1924, educator Agnes Wayman wrote, 'When we see our adolescent high school girls playing long schedules of outside games, traveling around the country, wearing immodest clothing before mixed audiences, we know that it's time something sane and intelligent be done.' A wave of anti-female athletics in colleges and high schools swept across the country, and our high school (Hastings) followed the trend. By 1926, only the hiking club survived. Now really, who can say that hiking is unladylike or exploiting their sexuality?
"Then in the Dec. 8, 1930 Moccasin, an article appeared, written by junior Florence O'Connor:
"'A Team for Girls
Last Thursday, letters were given to all the boys who have earned them. What a wonderful feeling receiving one of those letters must give a person.
"It seems the girls of our school will never get a thrill like this. Why? Girls have just as much athletic ability as boys, but they are not given a chance to show it.
"Other schools have basketball teams. Why can't we have one? Is it fair that the boys should have a chance to letter by two ways, and girls not even one? Let's organize a team.'"
Darsow did not find any indication that anything came of Florence's letter.
It is significant that five years later in 1935, that a Girls Athletic Association was formed.The GAA offered a variety of team and individual sports activities. Girls could letter in GAA but with a smaller letter than those given to boys.
The GAA continued in Hastings and in schools across the state until the 1960s and 1970s and the advent of competitive sports for girls, complete with school letters, equitable treatment and state tournaments.
Darsow concludes, "Our current girls teams in all sports are competing, winning and have proven they are a force to be reckoned with."
Thanks to the Hastings Star Gazette for permission to include the information from the 2002 article written by Dick Darsow.
Darsow wrote, "In a recent visit with Don Eddy, he mentioned that girls athletics did not begin in our high school with the 1972 Minnesota legislature mandate that girls be given the same access to sporting events available to the boys. He stated that, as early as 1918-1919, girls were competing in athletic programs in our high school, as attested to by the accompanying photo in the 1920 Blue and Gold Hastings High School Yearbook.
"That aroused my curiosity, so I started browsing through old yearbooks and Moccasins, which were the school news magazines of that day, and I got a fast education.
"Let's read an abridged article that appeared in the May 1915 Moccasin:
"Athletics for girls.
Why shouldn't girls have athletics as well as boys? They both have physical bodies to be cared for and exercise when taken in proper quantity is beneficial to both.
"Objections have been made to athletics for girls on the grounds that girls become too rough and unladylike. There are many games girls could play, especially basketball and tennis. These games are both adapted to physical and mental development and exercise muscles not ordinarily used. They also teach us to think and act simultaneously.
"The school board heard that plea and by October, the girls had organized two basketball teams under the direction of Miss Hagerman. They were practicing twice a week, and a schedule of competitive events was going to be published soon.
"Then this picture appeared in the 1920 Blue and Gold yearbook. The Blue and Gold was the name of our athletic teams before they were exclusively called the Raiders during the 1947-1948 school year. The school board approved the establishment of a physical education department in March 1917, and by October 1919, a hiking club was in place that was called 'Winged Feet.'"
The article included the 1918-1919 girls basketball team that consisted of seven players - Front: Frances Lucius, Hildegard Heisler. Middle: Helen Graus, Bertha Thomas, Effie Nesbitt. Back: Pauline Heinen, Irene West.
The article continued: "The March 1924 Moccasin summarized the 1923-24 to South St. Paul 13-10, defeated Farmington 11-8; defeated Farmington in a return game 7-6; and defeated South St. Paul 21-10. In 1925, Hastings also played Prescott, WI."
The article accurately summarized the reasons why girls athletics in Hastings changed from a competitive program to a Girls Athletic Association:
"The Roaring 20s were under way and women had just received their right to vote. Young girls were asserting their newfound freedoms, breaking from old traditions of dress and conduct. In 1923, the nation's female physical education instructors launched a campaign to take control of women's sports, which they felt were often being managed by men to exploit female sexuality for profit. They formed the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation, led by Lou Henry Hoover, wife of the soon-to-be president of the United States, Herbert Hoover.
"In 1924, educator Agnes Wayman wrote, 'When we see our adolescent high school girls playing long schedules of outside games, traveling around the country, wearing immodest clothing before mixed audiences, we know that it's time something sane and intelligent be done.' A wave of anti-female athletics in colleges and high schools swept across the country, and our high school (Hastings) followed the trend. By 1926, only the hiking club survived. Now really, who can say that hiking is unladylike or exploiting their sexuality?
"Then in the Dec. 8, 1930 Moccasin, an article appeared, written by junior Florence O'Connor:
"'A Team for Girls
Last Thursday, letters were given to all the boys who have earned them. What a wonderful feeling receiving one of those letters must give a person.
"It seems the girls of our school will never get a thrill like this. Why? Girls have just as much athletic ability as boys, but they are not given a chance to show it.
"Other schools have basketball teams. Why can't we have one? Is it fair that the boys should have a chance to letter by two ways, and girls not even one? Let's organize a team.'"
Darsow did not find any indication that anything came of Florence's letter.
It is significant that five years later in 1935, that a Girls Athletic Association was formed.The GAA offered a variety of team and individual sports activities. Girls could letter in GAA but with a smaller letter than those given to boys.
The GAA continued in Hastings and in schools across the state until the 1960s and 1970s and the advent of competitive sports for girls, complete with school letters, equitable treatment and state tournaments.
Darsow concludes, "Our current girls teams in all sports are competing, winning and have proven they are a force to be reckoned with."
Thanks to the Hastings Star Gazette for permission to include the information from the 2002 article written by Dick Darsow.
Hastings 1919