Category: 1970s
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Janet Church
Janet Church (Atkins) from Anaheim, CA was documented by her little brother, Dave Church (RIP), who was also an active skateboarder, carving the Fish Bowl in 1977, which is such a stylish and iconic photo. Janet was sponsored by Hobie at the time, rocking her Vans shoes and Hang-Ten socks, and I would love to…
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Denise Danielson
Denise Danielson was introduced to skateboarding in the mid-1970s when she was 14 years-old while living in Louisiana near New Orleans. I’m so pleased that we had the opportunity to connect because her experience is not the typical SoCal origin story! Denise would become a pro competitive pool and bowl skater in the early 1980s…
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Debbi Bennett
Skateboarding needs people like Debbi Bennett of Hollywood, CA! In 1978, at age 24, Debbi was behind a petition called “FreeSkate L.A.” when she learned that her city council was considering making skateboarding illegal – not even allowing skateboarding in one’s own driveway let alone a street or sidewalk. Debbi wasn’t convinced that these laws…
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Bonnie Votaw
Bonnie Votaw was a child prodigy skater from the 1970s and had the opportunity to travel to England in 1978 at the age of 8, along with friend, Jacqueline Jones, age 14. Photos of the two girls from a skateboard demo at the Mad Dog bowl on Old Kent Road in London were printed in…
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Kelly Moran
Kelly Moran of Burbank, California was a skateboarder in the late 1970s, who had connections in the film industry considering that her sister played “Joanie Cunningham” in the sitcom, Happy Days. At age 19, Kelly became known as the “Skateboard Girl” for the soda brand Royal Crown (RC) Cola, appearing in commercials and advertisements, like…
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Judith Cohen
The original draft of this post from June 12, 2023, was an attempt to alert the skateboarding world that I was looking for Judith, as my internet sleuthing for one “Judy Cohen” was unsuccessful. And sure enough, a random Google search led Judith to my site and thankfully prompted her to write. Judith Cohen described…
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Peggy Oki
Peggy Oki almost needs no introduction considering her legacy as the lone female skateboarding member of the gritty Zephyr team, a Venice Beach crew which formed in the mid-1970s and took on mythic proportions thanks to the 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys (dir. Stacy Peralta) followed by a fictionalized version, Lords of Dogtown in 2005…
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Michelle Kolar-Scott
Michelle Kolar-Scott was a freestyle / street skater with the best of them back in the 1970s and was interviewed in 2016 by Lorrie Palmos in a fantastic feature for Girls Who Ride which included photos of Michelle ripping up the curbs and throwing down kickflips! Michelle shared that she was raised in Hermosa Beach,…
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Merry Christmas – 1977
Back in December 1977, I was just a wee babe at 3 months old, but this is the skateboarding vibe I was born into, and I love this photo. Kid just scored a Freeformer split tail board and a Kiss album on vinyl. Stoked!! Happy holidays everybody. Back to Top
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1970s News Clippings
Just like the 1960s New Clippings feature, all of these skateboarders are “mysteries,” so please reach out if someone is familiar as I’m always grateful for a little backstory. Names, newspapers and dates all listed below. Back to Top
Womxn Skateboard History 