Women in Sports Photo Archive, Including One of the Earliest Female Bullfighters, 1900-1950s

Women in Sports

Photograph

[Sports and Hobbies][Women’s History] Archive of six original photographs depicting women in sports and physical culture, ca. 1900s–1950s. A striking group of five silver gelatin photographs and one stereoview documenting early and mid-20th century women’s athletics across a range of sports, including bullfighting, competitive swimming, mass calisthenics, and weight training. The archive is anchored by a powerful press photograph of Bertha Trujillo, a Colombian woman bullfighter, shown bloodstained and exhausted yet defiant after leaving the ring, as documented by a Hamilton Wright press caption on verso dated May 7, 1956. The image captures the rare spectacle of a woman operating within a hypermasculine and violently gendered tradition, underlining her transgressive presence in the public arena of the corrida. Trujillo’s visibility as a "girl bullfighter" not only subverts gendered codes of spectacle and aggression but also underscores the fraught place of women in national rituals of machismo.

Also included is an early gelatin silver stereoview of a woman mid-dive from a boat into open water, ca. 1900s, her long dress captured in graceful suspension. A vintage sepia-toned postcard shows a massive synchronized physical training display by women in uniform skirts, likely in a European stadium setting. A third photograph features a smiling young woman swimmer in a tight one-piece suit standing beside a trophy, likely ca. 1920s–30s, exuding post-competition confidence and the growing visibility of women in elite amateur sport. Two additional gelatin silver prints, ca. 1930s–40s, show women engaged in solitary strength and flexibility exercises: one throwing a medicine ball under clouded sky, the other stretching a resistance band at the edge of a pond. Each of these images gestures toward evolving conceptions of female strength, embodiment, and public physicality across the 20th century. The photographs collectively trace a visual history of women’s contested access to spaces of physical prowess and public acclaim. Minor edge wear and surface rubbing to a few prints. Overall very good condition. A varied archive showcasing women’s athleticism in the early 20th century.

Item #22435

Price: $255.00