Category: Profile
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Sally Affleck
Sally Affleck (Felice) of Australia was a competitive skater starting out in the late 1980s, consistently holding her own throughout the 1990s and beyond. In North America, you might have unknowingly seen her within Thrasher in the February 1995 issue that contained a six-page collage of female skaters in the “Girls Who Skate” article, chock…
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Kerry Cooper
Kerry Cooper (Germain) was a 1970s skater who is mostly under the radar, but her name occasionally appeared in contest results, starting back in 1976. At the Ventura 2nd Annual Skateboard Championships, Kerry placed 2nd in freestyle behind Laura Thornhill for Girls 11-14, ahead of Tracy Alaway, Bonnie Kaplan, and Gloria Blanchard. Contests were still…
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The Frumpies
The Frumpies were a punk band that formed in 1992 out of Olympia, WA who also happened to have skateboarding and Riot Grrrl connections. According to Wikipedia, the original members were Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren (who all played in Bikini Kill) and Molly Neuman of Bratmobile, with the addition in 1993 of…
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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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Lucie Kalinová
In the summer of 1999, I was fortunate to pursue a semester abroad in Prague, Czechia at Charles University. My motives were not academic. I had heard of a derelict plaza covered in marble slabs where skateboarders gathered simply called “Stalin,” in reference to a monument that had been blown up, and I wanted 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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Jessica Krause
Jessica Krause loves skateboarding, and if you witnessed her skills during the 1990s and early 2000s, consider yourself privileged because she was always willing to step up and take on the burliest rails, gaps, and ledges. I was fortunate to learn more about Jessica’s story during an interview February 1st, 2024, including her experience with…
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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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Swash Buckler
Narangkar Khalsa (Glover) was the publisher of the Oakland-based skate zine, Swash Buckler which included four issues celebrating female skaters in the early 2000s. Issue #1 from January 2001 featured Bridget Ribbel, Dandelion Bordow, the All Girl Skate Jam 2000, and ASR Tradeshow 2000. Issue #2 from May 2001 celebrated Peggy Oki, Melissa Dafnos, and…
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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…
Womxn Skateboard History 