Sport in Industrial America, 1850-1920

Steven A. Riess is Bernard Brommel Research Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Northeastern Illinois University.  He is the author or editor of eleven books and the former editor of The Journal of Sport History.

“Sport in Industrial America could serve well as a textbook for sport studies or a supplement for courses in US history for the period the book covers.  Summing Up:  Recommended.  General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty.”  (Choice, 1 September 2013)

• Preface and Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1CHAPTER ONE: Urbanization, the Technological Revolution, and the Rise of Sport 13Urban Reform and the Ideology of Sport 16Sport and Urban Space 22Sport and the Promotion of Public Pride 28The Technological Revolution and the Rise of Sport 30Sport and the Communications Revolution 30Sport and the Transportation Revolution 35Lights, Camera, Action 38Technological Innovations and Sports Equipment 39Conclusion 44CHAPTER TWO: Sport and Class 45Sport and the American Elite 47The Elite Sports Club 50Thoroughbred Racing and the Jockey Clubs 51The Athletic Club 53Women and the Elite Sports Clubs 56The Country Club 57Sport and the Middle Class 59Middle-Class Sports Clubs 63Middle-Class Women 67Working-Class Sport 70The Working-Class Saloon 75Track-and-Field 77Blue-Collar Baseball 79Industrial Sport 81Working-Class Women’s Sport 84Conclusion 85CHAPTER THREE: Sport, Ethnicity, and Race 87The Old Immigrants 88British Americans 88Irish Americans 90German Americans 99The New Immigrants 103Jewish Americans 105Native Americans 112African Americans 114Asian Americans 122Conclusion 123CHAPTER FOUR: Sport and the Educational Process 125Sport and Higher Education 126Men’s Intercollegiate Athletics 126Football: The Big Game 129The Football Crisis of 1905–1906 and the Rise of the NCAA 137Women’s Collegiate Athletics 141Secondary School Sport 144Adult-Directed Youth Sport 147Conclusion 152CHAPTER FIVE: Baseball and the Rise of Professional Sport 153Thoroughbred Racing 159The Racetracks 159Reformers Close the Tracks 162Professional Baseball 166The Rise of the National League 168Baseball in the Early Twentieth Century 175The Ballparks 181The Ballplayers 186The Game in the Dead Ball Era 186The Black Sox Scandal 189Conclusion 192CHAPTER SIX: American Sport in the International Arena 195The Cultural Diffusion of Sport 196Sports and the Borderlands 198The Baseball Tours 201Hawaii 205China 206Japan 208The Philippines and American Imperialism 212American Sport in the Caribbean 215Cuba 215The United States and the Olympic Games 219The 1900 and 1904 Olympics and the Intercalated Games of 1906 221The London Olympics of 1908 227The 1912 Olympics at Stockholm 228The Inter-Allied Games and the 1920 Olympics 230Conclusion 231Bibliographical Essay 234Index 273Photographs follow pages 44 and 194