Category: 1980s
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Stefanie Åkesson
Stefanie Åkesson (she/her) is from Falun, Sweden and has a long legacy of competitive skateboarding and an inspiring story. Her full list of contest wins can be found on her website such as being the Swedish freestyle champion over fifteen times! Stefanie explained via Facebook that “I got my first skateboard August 28, 1978. But…
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Peggy Walden
Peggy Walden of Marshfield, Wisconsin, began skateboarding in 1986 and was age 15 when she was featured in an interview for the February 1991 issue of the female-focused skateboarding zine Equal Time (pp 10-16), which was edited by JoAnn Gillespie, who took over from Lynn Kramer. Peggy’s part in SK8HERS I am so grateful for…
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Mystery 80s Big Hair Skaters
I once had a poster that adorned my dorm room wall advertising an All Girl Skate Jam from 2000 with the slogan “Big Air, Not Big Hair.” It was pretty catchy, and a bit of a diss on the 1980s obsession with teasing one’s hair and blasting it with hairspray and gel to maximize the…
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Denise Barter
I am a big advocate for more women in leadership roles throughout the skateboarding industry. Denise Downs Barter (who now goes by Denise Pehrsson) is a great example from the 1970s of a person who garnered a lot of respect from skaters of that generation for her activity in sports management. In Vicki Vicker’s six-page…
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NYC 1980s : Stana & Jessica
In 2010, an epic book was published called Full Bleed: New York City Skateboard Photography (MTV Press), edited by Alex Corporan, Andre Razo and Ivory Serra, followed up by a 10th Anniversary edition in 2022 with an additional 96 pages. While the skaters were predominantly male (with the exception of the Rookie team and Betty…
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Dee Urquhart
Dee Urquhart (Ross) could be called the Scottish godmother of skateboarding considering the role she played, alongside her late husband, Iain Urquhart, an award-winning architect who designed the famous Livi skatepark, which opened in 1981. Photo: Dee performing an ollie grab to fakie, from her personal collection. It was thanks to Iain’s second cousin, Parisa…
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Ocea Lei Iverson
In 2010, a powerful exhibit at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles was launched called “How We Roll,” focused on Black surf and skate culture, and Ocea Lei Iverson (she/her/they/them) was part of the planning team focused on women’s participation. Ocea’s father is Black American with Indigenous heritage, and her mother is first…
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Anarquia! Brazil
There’s a certain mystique about skateboarding in the 1980s and its association with punk aesthetics and anti-establishment attitudes. This style wasn’t isolated in the United States, which I’m becoming more aware of, especially now that I’ve slowly started to piece together a history of skateboarding in Brazil. Brazil loves skateboarding, and their history and heroes…
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Chicago Girls Crew
In 1982, Cyndy Pendergast wrote in to Thrasher with photos of her female skate crew from Chicago. Cyndy would go on to be a legendary skater from The Turf skatepark, competing and often beating the local guys in pool and bowl, and it’s thanks to fellow skater Marla Rainey, who preferred to be behind the…
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Monica Polistchuk
Monica Polistchuk is a legendary Brazilian skater from São Bernardo do Campo, who began skating in the early 1980s. Her website Oopskate.com is a treasure trove of skateboard history, featuring the likes of Renata Paschini, Karen Jonz, Christie Aleixo, Melissa Brogni, Déborah Badel, Yndiara Asp, and Tati Marques. Monica was motivated to create the site…
Womxn Skateboard History 