Cheerleading megaphone used by Denise, Melody and Michelle Christian while in high school, 1971
Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- Cheerleader's megaphone used by donors, Denise, Melody and Michelle Christian while in high school in 1971.
- A decidedly American invention, cheerleading has its origins in sports and education. Beginning as early as 1877, fans organized cheers in the stands at Princeton football games but it was not until the 1930s when Gussie Nell Davis, a physical education teacher at Greenville High in Texas, saw the need to involve girls in physical activity. Participation in organized sports was not readily available to girls at this time - the Flaming Flashes and later, the Kilgore Rangerettes of Kilgore College in Texas, both organized by Davis, provided a sense of unity and empowerment through athleticism. Until Title IX, cheerleading was among the few sports available at the high school and collegiate levels that provided opportunities for women.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Denise S., Melody, and Michelle J. Christian
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- Date made
- ca 1971
- ID Number
- 1981.0143.01
- catalog number
- 1981.0143.01
- accession number
- 1981.0143
- Object Name
- Megaphone
- megaphone, cheerleading
- Physical Description
- paint (overall material)
- metal (overall material)
- cardboard (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 27 1/2 in x 12 in; 69.85 cm x 30.48 cm
- used
- United States: Maryland, Hyattsville
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
- web subject
- Sports
- name of sport
- Cheerleading
- level of sport
- scholastic
- web subject
- Women
- Record ID
- nmah_1062155
