1st Edition
The Routledge History of American Sport
The Routledge History of American Sport provides the first comprehensive overview of historical research in American sport from the early Colonial period to the present day. Considering sport through innovative themes and topics such as the business of sport, material culture and sport, the political uses of sport, and gender and sport, this text offers an interdisciplinary analysis of American leisure. Rather than moving chronologically through American history or considering the historical origins of each sport, these topics are dealt with organically within thematic chapters, emphasizing the influence of sport on American society.
The volume is divided into eight thematic sections that include detailed original essays on particular facets of each theme. Focusing on how sport has influenced the history of women, minorities, politics, the media, and culture, these thematic chapters survey the major areas of debate and discussion. The volume offers a comprehensive view of the history of sport in America, pushing the field to consider new themes and approaches as well.
Including a roster of contributors renowned in their fields of expertise, this ground-breaking collection is essential reading for all those interested in the history of American sport.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Linda J. Borish, David K. Wiggins, and Gerald R. Gems
I. Introduction to American Sport History: Perspectives and Prospects
- Theory and Method in American Sport History (John Soares)
- New Directions and Future Considerations in American Sport History (Jaime Schultz)
- The Wild West of Pedagogy: Thoughts on Teaching American Sport History (Ryan Swanson)
II. Sport and Education
4. Progressive Era Sport, Education, and Reform (Brian Ingrassia)
5. Intercollegiate Sports (Ronald A. Smith)
6. High School Sports (Robert Pruter)
7. Youth Sports (Dennis Gildea)
III. Race, Ethnicity, American Sport and Identity
8. Native American Sports (John D. Bloom)
9. African Americans and Sports (Charles H. Martin)
10. Latinos and Sport (Adrian Burgos, Jr.)
11. Irish Americans and Sport (Ralph C. Wilcox)
12. German Americans and Sport (Annette R. Hofmann)
13. Sport and Italian American Identity (Gerald R. Gems)
14. Jews and American Sports (Steven A. Riess)
15. Asian Americans and Sport (Joel S. Franks)
IV. Gender and American Sport
16. The Historical Influence of Sport in the Lives of American Females (Roberta J. Park)
17. Title IX, Race, and Recent Sport (Sarah Fields)
18. Sport and Masculinity (Kevin B. Wamsley and Macintosh Ross)
19. Queering Fields and Courts: Considerations on LGBT Sport History (Rita Liberti)
V. The Business of Sport
20. Sport, Television and the Media (Richard C. Crepeau)
21. Commercialized Sport, Entrepreneurs and Unions in Major League Baseball (Braham Dabscheck)
22. Play for Pay: Professional Sports and American Culture (Richard O. Davies)
23 Sport in American Film (Donald J. Mrozek)
24. Hegemony and Identity: The Evolution of American Women’s Participation
in Active Sport Tourism (Brenda P. Wiggins and Margaret J. Daniels)
VI. Material Culture and Sport
25. Playgrounds, Stadiums, and Country Clubs (Robert C. Trumpbour)
26. Building American Muscle: A Brief History of Barbells, Dumbbells and
Pulley Machines (Jan Todd and Jason Shurley)
27. Sport Training, Sport Science, and Technology (Amanda N. Schweinbenz)
VII. Social Movements and Political Uses of Sport
28. "Faster, Higher, Stronger"—And More Patriotic: American Olympic Narratives (Mark Dyreson, Tom Rorke, and Adam Berg)
29. American Military Sport from Colonial Times to the Twenty First Century (Wanda Ellen Wakefield)
30. A Divided World: The US, the USSR, and Sport during the Cold War Sport (Chris Elzey)
VIII. Facets of Sport in Recent American Culture
31 Active Radicals: the Political Athlete in the Contemporary Moment (Amy Bass)
32. Alternative, Extreme (and Avant-Garde) Sport (Robert E. Rinehart)
33. Not Quite a Slam Dunk: Globalization and American Team Sports (John Nauright)
Biography
Linda J. Borish is Associate Professor in the History Department and Gender/Women’s Studies Department at Western Michigan University. She has presented and published her work nationally and internationally.
David K. Wiggins is a professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Sport and Leisure in Society at George Mason University.
Gerald R. Gems is a past president of the North American Society for Sport History, the current vice-president of the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport, and a Fulbright Scholar, who has presented his work in 29 countries
" It could not be an easy task to put together a collection of essays on American sport that gives a reasonable picture of what was happening historically across a nation so vast and populus. The editors intend the books to "provide greater insight into the ways in which sport illuminates other components of American culture" (1). On the whole, they succeed." - Wray Vamplew, University of Edinburgh
