Tag: Skateboard History
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Leigh Zaremba
This photo and article of Leigh Zaremba and Dee Jay Cobb is from spring 1959! Woah! It was featured in the May 29, 1959 issue of the Pasadena Independent, and it is the earliest photo of a woman on a skateboard that I have ever found (let alone anybody on a skateboard!). Found it a…
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Girls Who Skate 1995
In the early 1990s the Riot Grrrl movement, which originated in the Pacific Northwest was not only having an impact on young women who loved punk music, but also skateboarders and really any girl who was sick of being dismissed. Girls were ready to claim their space in subcultures, not just as sidekicks / girlfriends…
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Cyndy Pendergast
Cyndy Pendergast was a confident skater in the Mid-West in the 1970s and 1980s and is listed as a “notable member” of the Turf skateboard park on a Wikipedia page. Her name is included along with a host of male skaters, and the legendary Pattie Hoffman. The Turf, (aka “Surfin’ Turf”) was in Greenfield, Wisconsin…
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Suzette Owens
Suzette Owens was a competitive freestyle skateboarder out of Long Beach, California in the late 1970s. I was reminded of Suzette during a recent interview with Kim Adrian, as they were good friends at the time being slightly older. While the two preferred skating different terrain, they had the common bond of knowing how to…
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Marilyn Latta
Marilyn Latta (not to be confused with Michelle Matta) was featured in a two-page interview in June 1978 for the Wild World of Skateboarding magazine. Marilyn was age 16 at the time and from Malibu, CA, dreaming of following the professional path like her heroes Ellen Berryman and Terry Brown. Richard Taylor wrote, “Marilyn has…
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Karen Trimble
Karen Trimble of San Marcos, CA was a competitive freestyle skateboarder in the mid-1980s along with her brothers John and Terry. She was mentioned in passing within Terry’s Freestyle zine called GTurn and he published a photo of her practising kickflips in the November 1987 issue (Vol. 1 No. 2). She was featured in a…
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Sussi Berglund
Sussi Berglund (Mabbe) of Stockholm, Sweden was skateboarding in her teens and even appeared in a local newspaper performing a handstand in 1978 at age 16, evidently having a great time along with friend Henrik. Based on her Facebook profile, she enjoyed both freestyle and mini-ramp, along with friend Agneta Grapne. With consistent practise, the…
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Leigh Parkin
Leigh Parkin (Blake) was a Del Mar Skate Ranch local who began skateboarding in the 1970s and competed strongly in the early 1980s. In an email, Leigh shared that, “I was first introduced to skateboarding from an older brother, we would skate at the middle school and the curbs by our house, I was probably…
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Beth Fishman
Beth Fishman appeared in a four-page spread within the April 1978 issue of Wild World of Skateboarding after winning the SKAbo ESA Eastern Skateboard Championships held over three days in October 1977 at The Asbury Park Casino Arena in New Jersey. Her win was against all boys since there were no other girls competing beside…
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Stephanie Person
Stephanie Person is the first Black female professional skateboarder and her contributions throughout the 1980s are legendary. Skateboarding has always appealed to youth regardless of race or gender (see: Cheryl Thornton) but the barriers facing women & non-binary skaters of color to embrace sport and subculture are incomparable (see: Ramdasha Bikceem). Photo: Stepanie’s board says…
Womxn Skateboard History 