Difference between revisions of "Avantis Softball Team"
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− | '''Dunning Field, St. Paul, MN''' | + | '''Dunning Field, St. Paul, MN (1960-1975?)''' |
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− | Though conceptually rooted in Minneapolis, the Avantis all-women softball team represented a greater relationship between queer women and sporting that is evident in the Twin Cities. Indeed, the team interchangeably referred to themselves as the Minneapolis Avantis and the Twin Cities | + | {| {{prettytable}} |
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+ | |<div style="text-align: center;"> | ||
+ | [[Image:SVC_Avantis.png]] | ||
+ | </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> | ||
+ | <small>'''The Avantis pose in front of the Minneapolis skyline, 1975. Note that the [[IDS Center]] is the only visible skyscraper. Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society and Betty Hawes.'''</small> | ||
+ | </div> | ||
+ | | Though conceptually rooted in Minneapolis, the Avantis all-women softball team represented a greater relationship between queer women and sporting that is evident in the Twin Cities. Indeed, the team interchangeably referred to themselves as the Minneapolis Avantis and the Twin Cities Avantis. | ||
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+ | This attests to the compatriotism that queer women felt on either side of the river. Named for their coach’s favorite brand of Italian sports car,<small>(1)</small> the team “modeled how to be ‘out lesbians’: they played hard and looked tough in their baseball pants and black jackets[.]”<small>(2)</small> | ||
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+ | {| {{prettytable}} | ||
+ | ! | ||
+ | ! | ||
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+ | | Dunning Field served the [[Rondo Neighborhood]] long before [[Interstate 94]] erased it from the map in the 1960s. The neighborhood permitted a handful of talented young girls to participate in softball, baseball, and other sports. Notably, old Rondo was home to Toni Stone, a lifelong “tomboy” who became one of the first African-American women to play baseball professionally.<small>(3)</small> In many ways, Stone blazed a path for the Avantis a decade before the latter organized. | ||
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− | A group of women organized into the Avantis in 1960,<small>(4)</small> eight years before Honey Harold opened [[Foxy’s Bar]] in Minneapolis. At the time, queer bars like the Happy Hour Bar (later a part of the [[Gay 90s Complex[[) or [[Sutton’s Place]] noticeably prevented women from sharing space with men. Softball teams provided queer women with the chance to meet once another: “back then, when you’re new in town, the first thing you do is you look for the softball teams, because that’s where you know you can find the lesbians.”<small>(5)</small> | + | |
+ | A group of women organized into the Avantis in 1960,<small>(4)</small> eight years before Honey Harold opened [[Foxy’s Bar]] in Minneapolis. At the time, queer bars like the Happy Hour Bar (later a part of the [[Gay 90s Complex[[) or [[Sutton’s Place]] noticeably prevented women from sharing space with men. | ||
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+ | Softball teams provided queer women with the chance to meet once another: “back then, when you’re new in town, the first thing you do is you look for the softball teams, because that’s where you know you can find the lesbians.”<small>(5)</small> | ||
+ | | [[Image:Toni-Stone_courtesy-of-the-National-Baseball-Hall-of-Fame-Library-Cooperstown-NY_350px.jpg]] <div style="text-align: center;"> | ||
+ | <small>'''Toni Stone, when she played for the Indianapolis Clowns, Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Library and Deborah Blagg.'''</small> | ||
+ | </div> | ||
+ | |} | ||
While the Avantis were visibly a queer women’s softball team, they were not vocally so—a second group, The Wilder Ones, became the first openly-queer women’s team in 1971.<small>(6)</small> The later team challenged the Minneapolis Park Board and set a standard for future relations between the City and queer sports teams.<small>(7)</small> | While the Avantis were visibly a queer women’s softball team, they were not vocally so—a second group, The Wilder Ones, became the first openly-queer women’s team in 1971.<small>(6)</small> The later team challenged the Minneapolis Park Board and set a standard for future relations between the City and queer sports teams.<small>(7)</small> | ||
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Latest revision as of 21:49, 26 March 2010
Dunning Field, St. Paul, MN (1960-1975?)
The Avantis pose in front of the Minneapolis skyline, 1975. Note that the IDS Center is the only visible skyscraper. Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society and Betty Hawes. |
Though conceptually rooted in Minneapolis, the Avantis all-women softball team represented a greater relationship between queer women and sporting that is evident in the Twin Cities. Indeed, the team interchangeably referred to themselves as the Minneapolis Avantis and the Twin Cities Avantis.
|
Dunning Field served the Rondo Neighborhood long before Interstate 94 erased it from the map in the 1960s. The neighborhood permitted a handful of talented young girls to participate in softball, baseball, and other sports. Notably, old Rondo was home to Toni Stone, a lifelong “tomboy” who became one of the first African-American women to play baseball professionally.(3) In many ways, Stone blazed a path for the Avantis a decade before the latter organized.
|
Toni Stone, when she played for the Indianapolis Clowns, Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Library and Deborah Blagg. |
While the Avantis were visibly a queer women’s softball team, they were not vocally so—a second group, The Wilder Ones, became the first openly-queer women’s team in 1971.(6) The later team challenged the Minneapolis Park Board and set a standard for future relations between the City and queer sports teams.(7)
(1)Enke, Anne. Finding the Movement: Sexuality, Contested Space, and Feminist Activism. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007. Page 151.
(2)Enke, page 145.
(3)Sward, Susan. "Obituary: Toni Stone." The San Francisco Gate. 11/6/1996.
(4)Enke, page 151.
(5)Enke, page 145.
(6) Enke, page 156.
(7) Enke, page 157.
Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)