Book Description

In the 19th century, camping out emerged as an avenue for women's engagement with nature and provided access to an assortment of athletic pursuits, including hiking, hunting, fishing, swimming and boating. This volume of the Sports She Wrote series features 64 articles (134,000 words) written by women from 1879 to 1900, accompanied by 50 images, offering firsthand accounts of camping experiences, showcasing life in the great outdoors as a respite from the pressures of the new and expanding urban lifestyles that many women found suffocating. Informative narratives describe exploring national parks, family excursions with children, practical necessities of outdoor life, proper attire and walking tours through nature’s wonders, including Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Rockies and the Ozarks. Sources include Outing Magazine, The Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly and The San Francisco Examiner. Contributors include Juliet Wilbor Tompkins, Minna Caroline Smith, Kate Masterson, Mary Sargent Hopkins, E. Pauline Johnson's column on outdoor pastimes, and Jessamy Harte on camping in the Adirondacks. An illuminating series of letters and articles published in Forest and Stream magazine in 1879-1880 offers historical insights into the challenges faced by wives of avid outdoorsmen. Eighteen of the articles were published in a short-lived “Women’s Column” that may have been discontinued due to sensitivities expressed by male readers. Through these eloquent narratives, camping transcends mere outdoor activity, becoming a journey of self-discovery and camaraderie among women and families, celebrating those who embraced the wild retreat and established camping out as an enduring popular escape from social restrictions. Sports She Wrote is a 31-volume time-capsule of primary documents written by more than 500 women in the 19th century.