Cheerleading megaphone used by Denise, Melody and Michelle Christian while in high school, 1971
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1971
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Cheerleader's megaphone used by donors, Denise, Melody and Michelle Christian while in high school in 1971.
label: Description (Brief)
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: used
content: United States: Maryland, Hyattsville
topic: label: web subject
content: Sports
label: name of sport
content: Cheerleading
label: level of sport
content: scholastic
label: web subject
content: Women
label: Subject
content: High School
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Denise S., Melody, and Michelle J. Christian
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0143.01
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0143.01
label: accession number
content: 1981.0143
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Megaphone
label: Object Name
content: megaphone, cheerleading
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 27 1/2 in x 12 in; 69.85 cm x 30.48 cm