Margaret Abbott: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American golfer}}

{{For|the wife of Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia|Margie Abbott}}

 

| image            = Margaret-abbott-gold-medal-1900-golf.jpg

| image_size      = 220px

| caption          =  

| fullname             = Margaret Ives Abbott

| birth_place      = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[British Raj|India]]

| death_place      = [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], U.S.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bierstedt |first=Rainald |title=Abschlag Rio: Jugend Trainiert Golf Für Olympia |year=2012 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3848209705 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNE4ut_XnQ4C&q=%22Margaret+Ives+Abbott%22&pg=PA69 |edition=3rd |page=69 |language=de}}</ref>

| nationality      = {{USA}}

| spouse          = [[Finley Peter Dunne]] (m. 1902-1936, his death)

| children        = [[Philip Dunne (writer)|Philip Dunne]], Leonard Dunne, Peggy Dunne, Finley Peter Dunne Jr.

{{MedalSport | Women's [[Golf at the Summer Olympics|golf]] }}

{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}

{{MedalGold | [[1900 Summer Olympics|1900 Paris]] | [[Golf at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Women's individual|Individual]] }}

'''Margaret Ives Abbott''' (June 15, 1878 – June 10, 1955)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Welch|first=Paula|title=Search for Margaret Abbott|url=http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1982/ore182/ORE182s.pdf|journal=Olympic Review|volume=182|pages=752–54|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912053406/http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1982/ore182/ORE182s.pdf|archive-date=September 12, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> was an American golfer. She was the first American woman to win an Olympic event: the [[Golf at the 1900 Summer Olympics|women's golf tournament]] at the [[1900 Summer Olympics|1900 Paris Games]].

Born in Calcutta India, Margaret Abbot was the daughter of Charles and [[Mary Abbott (golfer)|Mary Abbott]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlooked-margaret-abbott.html|title=Margaret Abbott, an Unwitting Olympic Trailblazer|last=Fox|first=Margalit|date=March 8, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=March 8, 2018}}</ref> Charles died when Margaret was very young and after his death, Mary moved the family to Boston.<ref name=":0" /> 

When Abbott was a teenager, her mother became the literary editor of ''The Chicago Herald'' and the family then moved to Illinois.<ref name=":0" /> After moving to Illinois, she and her mother were members of the Chicago Golf Club where she learned how to golf.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Maragret Abbot: A Study Break|url=https://school.eb.com/levels/high/additionalcontent/10397271|url-status=live}}</ref> She began winning championships at local tournaments and was consistently featured in the Chicago Tribune newspaper.<ref name=":0"/>

== Paris Olympics ==

Mary and Margaret Abbott lived in Paris from 1899 to 1902.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJ-wDQAAQBAJ&q=pparently+misunderstood+the+nature+of+the+game+scheduled+for+the+day+and+turned+up+to+play+in+high+heels+and+tight+skirts&pg=PA31|title=Female Olympians: A Mediated Socio-Cultural and Political-Economic Timeline|last=Fuller|first=Linda K.|date=December 7, 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137582812|language=en}}</ref> While in Paris, Mary researched a travel guide and Margaret studied art with Rodin and Degas.<ref name=":0" />

At the 1900 Paris Olympics, 22 women competed out of a total of 997 athletes.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-first-american-woman-to-win-an-olympic-championship-didnt-even-know-it|title=The First American Woman to Win an Olympic Championship Didn't Even Know It|last=Holmes|first=Tao Tao|date=August 10, 2016|publisher=Atlas Obscura|access-date=August 21, 2016}}</ref> It was the first time women were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games and they could only compete in five sports: golf, tennis, sailing, equestrianism, and croquet.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/March/21/Margaret-Abbott-Aced-Team-USAs-First-Womens-Olympic-Gold-Medal-And-Didnt-Know-It|title=Margaret Abbott Aced Team USA's First Women's Olympic Gold Medal And Didn't Know It|work=Team USA|access-date=March 16, 2018|language=en}}</ref> The 1900 Olympics stretched over six months and was a sideshow of the Paris Exhibition which is also known as the World Fair.<ref name=":2" /> Since the competition was so stretched out, it was sometimes hard to track who competed in the competition and who did not.<ref name=":5" /> The Olympic events were referred to as the Championnats Internationaux, or International Championship, instead of the Olympic Games.<ref>https://www.golfhistorie.no/assets/files/2010-2020/golf-and-the-olympic-games-bill-malone.pdf</ref> There was also a lack of media attention as unlike today, the Olympics did not have either an opening ceremony or closing ceremony.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Margaret Abbott became U.S.’ first female Olympic champion without knowing it|url=https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/03/08/margaret-abbott-golf-olympics/|url-status=live}}</ref> The women's golf tournament was held on October 4, 1900 at a nine-hole course at Compiègne, north of Paris.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.olympic.org/margaret-abbott|title=Margaret Abbott – Olympic Golf {{!}} United States of America|date=February 16, 2017|work=International Olympic Committee|access-date=March 16, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Durning this time, women were perceived to be harmed from playing sports because of how physical it is, so they were limited to a nine-hole course compared to the 18-standard hole course people play with today.<ref name=":6" /> ''Golf Illustrated'' referred to the medal event as "The international golf competition recently held... in connection with the Paris Exhibition."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OoQXAQAAMAAJ&q=Margaret+Abbott+golf&pg=PA29|title=Golf Illustrated|date=1900|language=en}}</ref> The games were organized like any other small golf tournaments and barely publicized so Abbotts did not realize that the events she entered was part of the Olympics.

Historical research did not establish that the game was on the Olympic program until after Abbott's death in 1955, so she never found out that she was the first American women to win the Olympics.<ref name=":0" /> Additionally, Abbott's victory was not well known until a [[University of Florida]] professor and member of the Olympic Board of Directors, Paula Welch, researched the golfer and began to put together pieces of Abbott's life. She spent a decade examined newspaper articles that mentioned Abbott's successes in various golfing competitions in an attempt to gain more information. In the end, she also located Abbott's children and informed them of their mother's victory.<ref> https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-first-american-woman-to-win-an-olympic-championship-didnt-even-know-it </ref>

Part of the reason Abbott was not widely known was due to the lack of media attention the Olympics got in the 1900s and the fact that it was not a widely recognized competition.<ref name=":5" /> This was due to the fact she was residing in France and studying art while her mother was working there as a writer. Abbott competed because she played golf and happened to be in France.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> In the 1890s, Abbott initially learned to play the sport as a member of the Chicago Golf Club where her mother, also a member, played the sport.<ref name=":2"/>

She won the Olympics with a 9-hole score of 47.<ref name=":4" /> Abbott was awarded a porcelain bowl for first place in golf.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Kristine F.|date=July 11, 1996|title=While Reaching for the Gold, Women Shattered Stereotypes|journal=Christian Science Monitor|volume=88|issue=158|page=10}}</ref> Gold medals were only given out starting from 1904 in the Olympic game of St Louis; these gold medals made the Olympics more competitive and a sense of achievement for winners.

All the competitors played in long skirts and fashionable hats,<ref name=":0" /> and according to Abbott, she "apparently misunderstood the nature of the game scheduled for the day and turned up to play in high heels and tight skirts."<ref name=":1" />

Mary Abbott also entered the competition. She shot a 9-hole score of 65 and finished tied for seventh.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="lester">{{cite web|url=http://www.womengolfersmuseum.com/Famousgolfers/AbbottMargaret.htm|title=Recognizing First U.S. Women's Champion is a Step in the Right Direction|last=Lester|first=John|date=July 9, 1996}}</ref> This was the only time in Olympic history that a mother and daughter competed in the same sport in the same event at the same Olympics.<ref name=":2" /> It is much harder for this ordeal to happen in today's Olympic games as the threshold to compete is much higher.

Women's golf would not be seen again at the Olympics until the 2016 Games in Rio.<ref name=":0" />

== Later life and legacy ==

Margaret Abbott married the writer [[Finley Peter Dunne]] on December 10, 1902. They had four children together: Finley Peter Dunne Jr., Peggy Dunne, Leonard Dunne, and [[Philip Dunne (writer)|Phillip Dunne]], who later became a noted screenwriter. Abbott continued to play golf as she helped raise her children.<ref name=":0" /> Abbott died at age 76 on June 10, 1955 in Greenwich, Connecticut.<ref name=":0" />

In 1996, Abbot was the featured athlete of the 1900 Olympic Games in the official Olympic program of the Atlanta games.<ref name="lester" />

 

==Footnotes==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{databaseOlympics | ABBOTMAR01 }}

* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ab/margaret-abbott-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418111011/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ab/margaret-abbott-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 }}