A photo from 1965 of a crew of young skateboarders hanging out from the Polk County History Center based in Bartow, Florida led me to their database to see if I could find out more about the girls who were included. Two of the skaters were named – Gerry Bowden and Paul Daniel III. I had assumed the names were only identifying the two male skaters, but it turns out that Gerry (short for Geraldine) was one of the three young women!
Photo: Gerry is the young woman on the left
Their skateboards are handmade with roller skate wheels secured to crudely shaped 2x4s but they seem to be having a blast trying to figure out this new pursuit. And it’s interesting to note that in 1965 it wasn’t the norm for girls to wear pants, and some high school dress codes even forbade it.
Photo: Gerry is second to the left with two other young women and Paul Daniel III
I suspect Gerry’s family must have donated their photo collection to the history center because she appears multiple times, including a photo of her with the Bartow High School flag twirlers, in a group photo of the Future Farmers of America Sweetheart candidates, working on the Bartow high school yearbook, “The Echo” as an advertising manager with a typewriter, a group photo of the Bartow Homecoming Queen contestants, another group photo of candidates for the Miss Sumerlin Echo 1965, and then as a high school calendar model with the Jaycee Wives club.
Gerry’s legacy has been difficult to source beyond the brief descriptions in the photos. She was likely around age 15 in 1965, born in the early 1950s. And it would have been expected that she change her last name once married. Based on those 1965 photos, Gerry seemed free and relaxed while skateboarding with friends compared to the more formal photos as beauty pageant contestant!
Womxn Skateboard History 