The Arena
Look W - Reggie Baker '74 (#18) and Penney Mapes '74 (#8)
When she was just a senior at Lansing High, Reggie Baker ‘74 took action to start a women’s ice hockey team at Cornell by posting flyers on campus. At the time, women did not play contact sports and many felt hockey was too dangerous for women (Roberts, Mintz and Dryden, 2017, pg. 77). Baker however grew up playing pond hockey with her older brothers and neighbor kids: “Ice hockey was a big part of my life. I grew up around Cornell and it was the number one sport.” Through her efforts, Cornell became one of the first U.S. universities to start a women’s ice hockey program in 1971 (Roberts et al., 2017, pg. 82). This jersey was worn by Baker from 1972-74 (other equipment on display are extant examples on loan from the Hockey Hall of Fame that would have been similar to the kind of gear Baker purchased from Ithaca Sporting Goods in 1972). Unlike the Cornell men’s ice hockey team, the women had to pay for their own equipment. They also did not have a locker room, and were forced to use the public bathroom in Lynah Rink to change for practice every morning (Roberts et al., 2017, pg. 79). Despite such adversity, Baker recalled, “We were just happy to be able to play hockey.”
Prior to joining the Cornell women’s ice hockey team, Penney Mapes ‘74 had never played sports before: “I had no experience, but I thought it would be good to workout and get in shape.” For Mapes, the team became a major part of her experience at Cornell: “I didn’t get into sports in high school. It was too cliquey for me. It was much more rewarding to be a part of the team at Cornell. It taught me a lot about myself.” This repurposed football jersey was worn by Mapes during her first season as a member of the Cornell women’s ice hockey team. Due to lack of resources, much of the women’s equipment was either borrowed or adapted from men’s athletic wear in the early years: “Back then we didn’t really have any pads to wear under our jerseys. We just bought everything ourselves.” It wasn’t until the 1972-73 season that the team began to wear hockey jerseys and other protective gear.
Look X - Olympians Lauriane Rougeau '13, Laura Fortino '13, Brianne Jenner '15, & Rebecca Johnston '12
Cornell Women’s Ice Hockey welcomed several key players in between 2008 – 2011: Lauriane Rougeau '13, Laura Fortino '13, Brianne Jenner '15, and Rebecca Johnston '12, all of whom won gold medals for the Canadian women’s ice hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Rebecca Johnston also competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, where she won her first gold medal. The jersey on display here was acquired at an Ithaca fundraiser by Carolyn Neuman ’64 and autographed at Lynah Rink in 2013 at an event in honor returning Olympic athletes. Finding a balance between academic and athletic requirements is never easy for students, and especially when studies are interrupted by an event as momentous and strenuous as the Olympics. Although sports uniforms are not typically considered “fashion,” such jerseys nonetheless can take on great personal and cultural significance for players and fans alike. The difference between this jersey and those of the early 1970s does in fact demonstrate both fashion and functional/technical changes to women’s sportswear over the past 40+ years, and underscores how uniforms are not as static as they are sometimes thought to be.
Look Y - Susan Watkins & Students U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team Uniform
A pioneer and arguably the founder of the field of Functional Apparel Design, the research, work, and contributions made by Professor Susan Watkins continues to shape the functional apparel world we live in today. When called by the United States Olympic Bobsled team and asked to address the needs of injuries inflicted upon an Olympic bobsledder, Watkins and her students rose to the challenge and redesigned a uniform that would provide mobility and burn protection, while retaining thermality. Under the guidance and advisement of Professor Watkins, her students worked through the design challenge and submitted their pattern designs to the Olympic head coach. The uniform displayed here is the final iteration designed by Professor Watkins’ students of 1997.
Professor Watkins has published three books, mostly recently "Functional Clothing Design: From Sportswear to Spacesuits" (2015), co-authored with Dr. Lucy Dunne ’02. Professor Watkins has focused on a wide range of functional apparel research topics, including the design of chemically protective clothing, firefighting apparel, pressure garments for pilots, protective equipment for ice hockey, items of protective apparel for various branches of the military, clothing and accessories for nursing home residents, and braces for post-injury rehabilitation. In 1991, Susan was inducted as a Fellow into the International Textile and Apparel Association.
Look Z - Terri Cvetan
In 1982 the “Gay Olympics” was founded in San Francisco, California. By 1994 this athletic event (renamed the “Gay Games”) was larger in size than the number of athletes competing in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as well as the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The 1994 games were held in New York City and coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
The outfits and ephemera on display come from the ’94 event, and include commemorative and celebratory t-shirts, a running bib worn by a competitor involved in Front Runners race, a hat, and the martial arts uniform worn by competitor Terri Cvetan.
