The Pedestriennes

Errata:
"May Marshall could now lay claim to the world's to pedestrienne." (p81) I don't know what was meant here.
"In June, in she quit in the middle...leaving her manager in arreareages." (p82) The first part of the sentence makes no sense, and the last word should be arrearage or better, simply 'arrears'
"Von HIllern" (p85) Inappropriate capitalization in 'Von' (should be 'von') and with the 'I' in Hillern.
"When the man persited" (p93) should be 'persisted'
"...game leg..." (p154) should be "gammy leg"
"Madame Vestras" should be Madame Vestris - Lucia Elizabeth Vestris.
Laura Keene's name is misspelled as "Keane" at one point.
"...letting loose with a torrid of cursing..." should be "torrent"
"Fueding" should be "feuding" (p190)
"Seheduled" should be "Scheduled" (p227)

The description of "Madame" Ada Anderson's feat in Mozart Garden New York covers several chapters and not a bit of it is boring. It's really quite emotional and made me feel I was very nearly there. Her achievement was incredible. It was even more incredible that within a few months of her achievement, her record would be exceeded by May Marshall, and pretty much in tandem with it, Exilda LaChappelle would exceed Marshall's new record.

If there is one thing I do love it's quirky - as long as it's not endlessly, excessively, or mindlessly so. I especially like quirky when it comes to women and things they get up to that we may, rightly or wrongly, never have imagined them doing. One thing I freely confess never did cross my transom was "...a handful of late 19th century female athletes who dazzled America with their remarkable performances in endurance walking."

The blurb continues: "Frequently performing in front of large raucous crowds, pedestriennes walked on makeshift tracks set up in reconfigured theatres and opera houses. Top pedestriennes often earned more money in one week than the average American took home in a year." Female superstars in Victorian times? Quirky that's also pedestrian? How can a body not want to read that? So off we go!

These names will be unknown to you more than likely. They were to me, but back then, they were household names making newspapers headlines. Now at least they have a web site!:

Ada Anderson Alice Donley Sadie Donley Fannie Edwards Helene Freeman Lillie Hoffman Amy Howard Exilda la Chappelle Bertie LeFranc Tryphena Lipsey (aka May Marshall)
Kate Lorence Carrie Ross Emma Sharp May Bell Sherman Bertha von Berg (aka Maggie von Gross)
Bertha von Hillern

These women were from a variety of backgrounds and an assortment of ages from their mid fifties to as young as seventeen years old in the case of Lillie Hoffman, yet whereas Captain Barclay walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas in 1809, and falling asleep literally on his feet gets a page in Wikipedia, virtually none of the women do. Some of these endurance walkers met or exceeded his feat, such as for example, Emma Sharp. Perhaps these women faded too quickly into obscurity. perhaps genderism played a part. And not all of the men merit a page either, it would seem. William Gale, who achieved several pedestrian feats (which were not at all pedestrian!) of his own, gets no mention either, and he was instrumental in aiding and abetting female endurance walking.

A man named O'Leary kick-started the women's pedestrian competitive sport by staging a six-day marathon between two willing competitors: Bertha von Hillern and May Marshall. From then on it was a roller-caster bi-coastal ride coasting to a standstill in the 1880's and thereafter fading into complete forgetfulness until this author raised heir profile tow here it should be.

This book isn't quite ready for prime time: I found numerous spelling errors, which a good spell-checker would have cured (apart from a couple of misspelled names, that is). I know this was an advance review copy, but spelling errors should never get through even to that stage in this day and age. That aside, the book was well written, exhaustively researched, and pleasantly enlightening. It comes with extensive end notes, a bibliography, and an index. It's a fast read despite being close to three hundred pages. I recommend it.

This is a fantastically engaging tale of an aspect of history that I was previously unaware of. I fully plan on incorporating information about this fascinating time into my "perseverance" unit.

In the late 1800's, a new sport of endurance walking swept through America. The Pedestriennes, a group of women walkers, have now faded into obscurity. However, during their time, they were household names. This book outlines how the sport evolved and ultimately died out. The author combined storytelling with the facts, which made for a very interesting read. I googled some of the women's names after reading the book and could find very little out about them. I am amazed that the author was able to dig up all of the information that he did. Overall, well worth picking up.

Really enjoyed the book Fascinating insight into a "sport" / lifestyle I was completely unaware of Well researched Thought book cover very appealing and on point

"The Pedestriennes" tells the little-known story of female endurance walking champions. I'm pretty interested in women history, but not so much in sport. Nevertheless, endurance walking looked odd enough for me to give the book a try (also, it takes place at the end of the 19th century, which is always a pretty safe bet).

The writing is not always masterful, but the story is engaging. Newspaper testimonies give plenty of details that help recreate the feel of the time. For some reason, the sport has been really for a few years, and the narration makes it fully apparent. It also gives an insight of who were the main pedestriennes, and what prompted them to inflict upon themselves such ordeals for weeks on ends. It is also interesting to read an account of a sport practiced by both men and women that saw both gender compete against each other. And it is nice to see women beating men on the track, showing the public that yes, it is possible.

"The Pedestriennes" also recall the begin of the modern era of sport as mainstream entertainment, when competitions and races had their place on theatre. It also participates in the larger era of the development of women rights by showing the prowesses women are capable of. The book, and the movement, may cover a short span of time, but it is an interesting one.

Endurance races seem to be growing in popularity as your "Tough Mudders" and 100 mile races get into the news more and more. But this is not a new phenomenon. In the 1800s, endurance/fast walking was great entertainment. People used to pay good money for people like Robert Barclay Allardice, Captain Barclay, to walk for up to 6 day with little to no respite. In fact, Barclay managed the feat of 1,000 miles in ~1,000 hours, an astonishing thought at the time (and even now quite frankly.)
By the mid-1800s, women were looking to cash in on similar feats. And there were some big names who did some amazing things. Most of the book is taken up with Ada "Madame" Anderson who walked 4,000 quarter miles in 4,000 hours (1,000 miles in just over 166 days). When she succeeded, pedestrianism exploded. But then, as always seems to happen, the tide turned.
This book could have used some better editing (words misspelled and even missing) but it was an interesting look at an early endurance sport.

May Marshall, Amy Howard and Madame Anderson are probably not the names of women you are familiar with, but in the late 19th century they were the star athletes of the day. The Pedestrian movement was a sport of endurance walking that lasted for days. The Pedestriennes were the female participants, and they utterly stole the show. In an era where women did not walk alone, lest they be accused of being "street walkers," a Pedestrienne was a model of feminine strength and endurance. These were no walks in the park. Participants often walked for 6 days straight, taking only brief periods of time to rest. They often ate standing, wore specially designed outfits, and wore the soles of their shoes through. Pedestriennes also ran the risk of having their race sabotaged by people who would put pieces of glass or other dangerous objects on their walking path, or even put poisons in their food or flowers. If gambling was involved, they were at risk.

The Pedestriennes, by Harry Hall, explores the triumphs and scandals of the life of the Pedestriennes, as well as brings more light to a sport that was more or less abandoned by the turn of the century. In an era where roller derby has picked up speed again and more women are participating in endurance challenges, it's great to get a closer to look at those who came before. Hall goes in depth with his portraits of these once famous women, but also admits to taking liberties and points out that the papers of their day did just that as well. Newspapers in the 1800's weren't well known for a lack of bias, after all. The book is an interesting read, focusing on the difficulties that the women suffered outside of the sport, as well as the intense challenges of the track. I found myself going through it at great speed. Harry Hall also includes a very detailed bibliography and a great deal of page notes for readers who want to research for themselves.

The Pedestriennes is now available from Dog Ear Publishing.