The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL

The hit 1992 film A League of Their Own made the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League famous. But the players’ stories remain largely untold. The 600 women who played for the AAGPBL through the 1940s and 1950s enjoyed a rare opportunity to lead independent lives as well-paid professional athletes. Their experiences in the league led many to education and careers they never imagined.
As teachers, coaches and role models, they strove to broaden the horizons of girls and young women. Many continued to be involved in athletics, supporting the efforts leading to Title IX and the women’s sports revolution. Today, they are dedicated to preserving the history of women in baseball and creating opportunities for girls to play.

Kat D. Williams is associate professor of history at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia and president of the International Women’s Baseball Center.

Kat D. Williams
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: 34 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7235-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2695-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii
Preface 1
Introduction 2
1. Independence 17
2. Travel and Exposure 37
3. Patriotism and Military Service 66
4. A Revolution in Sports 81
5. Life After: The Reconnection 97
6. The Next Generation 119
Conclusion 140
Appendix: Girls’ and Women’s Baseball 149
Chapter Notes 159
Bibliography 169
Index 175

“Dr. Williams set out to answer a question from her students who asked her for real life examples of how sports made a larger difference in women’s lives. This book is the result of that research and readers will be amazed and inspired by the stories they read. There can be no doubt after reading about the careers of the players that their lives were transformed. With a focus on economics, travel, education and patriotism readers will never again wonder about the transforming power of sports.”—Leslie Heaphy, Kent State University at Stark, editor of Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball; “affectionately tells the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League”—ProtoView.