WIMNA co-founder Cindy Sisson cuts the ribbon to launch WIMNA Detroit
This past week I attended the launch of the Detroit WIMNA chapter at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. Women in Motorsports North America was founded in 2021 to advance opportunities for women in all areas of motorsports. Founded by Cindy Sisson, Lyn St James, and Beth Paretta, WIMNA is a community of professional women and men with a shared goal of connecting individuals and organizations that actively support women in motorsports through initiatives that include internships, mentorships, and recognition opportunities. WIMNA recognizes that the key to its growth is through the development of chapters in areas with an active racing culture, or in the case of Detroit, a community with strong automotive connections. As noted by Detroit chapter president Rena Shanaman, the future of WIMNA is dependent on corporate involvement. The Detroit launch had over 70 in attendance, many of whom represented automotive companies and corporations within Southeastern Michigan. The crowd was young and enthusiastic, and represented many segments of motorsports business and interest.
Detroit chapter president Rena Shanaman speaks to the crowd
It was a fun-filled evening, which began with pep talks by Shanaman as well as WIMNA co-founder Cindy Sisson. WIMNA understands the importance of events that connect people; the two-hour celebration included prize drawings, a nice selection of refreshments, as well as participation in WIMNA ‘Bingo’, an ice breaker activity that encouraged engagement with others in attendance. Although I was not the intended audience for this event – I have no corporate sponsorship to offer – I was interested in better understanding more about this organization, particularly how it differs from those that have come before. As I am currently developing a project that focuses on the the history of women’s motorsport organizations, this event allowed me to gain some insight into the purposes and practices of groups such as WIMNA.
WIMNA Bingo. How many squares can you fill?
From my perspective, WIMNA appeared to be well-organized; it is run by professionals in the field with exceptional motorsport knowledge and marketing skills. Its annual Women with Drive Summit is well-attended [over 600 at last year’s Indianapolis event]; in the four years of its existence, WIMNA has assembled a growing motorsports community that includes corporate and team owners, drivers, education and driving schools, engineering and mechanics, media, officials and volunteers, PR, marketing, and communications, racetracks , series and sanctioning bodies, suppliers, and allies.
Throughout its history, motorsports has not been welcoming to women. Consequently, it has been necessary for women to create strategies to gain entry into motorsport’s masculine domain. Women’s motorsports organizations, past and present, have endeavored to ease women’s way onto the race track not only through personal and financial support, but by providing connections and community to those interested in the sport. If the Detroit Launch event was any indication, WIMNA seems well on its way to success in this noble endeavor.
This past week I attended a lecture at the Detroit Institute of Arts which featured Nancy Nichols, author of Women Behind the Wheel: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car. The book is an overview of women’s automotive history through the personal car experiences of its author. Women Behind the Wheel is significant for a number of reasons. Although men have been writing about their automotive experiences for decades, women’s relationship with the car is rarely examined. Nichols’ book not only succeeds in addressing that lack, but is relatable to any women who has ever owned a car, particularly those of the baby boomer generation. Second of all, it draws attention to the longstanding gendered practices of automotive production, marketing, and ownership which reflect and perpetuate cultural attitudes regarding women and cars. In addition, automotive history is most often focused on specific automobiles and the men who built them; consequently women’s participation in automotive culture is considered less. Nichols’ well-researched manuscript contributes new knowledge through a rarely viewed female lens, and considers how the automobile has contributed to women’s lives in both empowering and dangerous ways.
Finally, as a scholar who has made the investigation of the relationship between women and cars the subject of her ‘third act,’ it has always been my hope that my work would encourage others to explore this little-explored connection in new and engaging ways. While I was pleased and honored to see some of my scholarship cited in Nichols’ book, I was also rather overwhelmed when, after introducing myself, Nancy called me out as the ‘original’ and asked to give me a hug. It was quite a thrill and as I drove home, felt perhaps that the work that I do, while in a very specific niche, does have some value.
As a journalist, editor, and former broadcaster, Nichols’ writing is both accessible and engaging. I would encourage any woman with [or without] a personal connection to cars to read Women Behind the Wheel.
Earlier this month I received an invitation to sit in on a women in motorsports webinar. The online event was hosted by the Motoring Podcast Network and sponsored by the IMRRC [International Motor Racing Research Center]. Although the History of Motorsports Series focuses on all aspects of motor racing, the focus on female racers is part of the Center’s celebration of Women’s History Month. Consequently, there have been weekly Virtual Center Conversations on women involved in various motorsport platforms, including Drag Racing, Trans Am, Short Track, and SIM. The sessions are co-hosted by Crew Chief Eric from Gran Touring Motorsports, and Lauren Goodman from the REVS Institute. I met Lauren at the Argetsinger Racing Symposium a number of years ago when we both served on the Women in Motorsports panel. Eric is the technical genius behind the Argetsinger and a fellow SAH [Society of Automotive Historians] member. Lauren and Eric are co-creators for the Motoring Podcast Network and have extensive backgrounds in motorsports and motorsports History.
The session I observed was focused on Trans Am racing, and featured four women who are active in the sport. As Lauren states in her introduction: ‘Get ready for an electrifying discussion as we bring together four of the most accomplished women in TransAm and Road racing! Cindi Lux, Michele Abbate, Amy Ruman, and special guest Erin Vogel take the stage for an exclusive panel diving into the highs, the challenges, and the evolution of women in motorsports. From the adrenaline filled battles to the precision of road racing, they’ll share their first-hand experiences and their insights on what it takes to compete at the highest levels. Whether you’re a die-hard racing fan or just love hearing inspiring stories from trailblazers, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss!’
Cindi’s Dodge Viper
For those unfamiliar with Trans Am, it is described as a North American sports car racing series sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America [SCCA]; it competes on a variety of track types including road courses and street circuits. It is a competition for modified production-based cars, primarily focused on driver skill and mechanical parity. As one of the panel members exclaimed, ‘Trans Am is fast, loud, and hot.’
Amy Ruman’s Corvette
The four on the panel, including Amy Ruman, the first woman to win the Trans Am championship title, represented a wide range of racing experience. They each entered motorsports through different avenues; some were raised in racing households, while others defied family members to follow their passion. As one remarked, ‘often you have to challenge those who think you shouldn’t do it.’ Female role models played an important part in each woman’s advancement; consequently, they all recognized the necessity of serving in the same capacity to young women new to the sport. Encouraging girls to come forward, inviting them into the pit, answering their questions, and persuading them to participate on social media were only a few of the many suggestions that were offered. The women collectively emphasized that Trans Am isn’t just about driving; they discussed the many behind-the-scenes opportunities motorsports offers. The obstacles women face were also addressed; most prominent is the difficulty of securing funding and sponsorship. This hour-long conversation among experienced, engaging Trans Am racers was a unique opportunity to discover how women have negotiated membership in the male motorsport arena and serves as a source of inspiration for those – female and male – interested in motorsports as a career or as an exciting, adrenaline driven pastime.
Michelle’s Ford Mustang
The Motorsport Broadcasting Network not only serves women in motorsport through these panels, but its Break/Fix Women of the Autosphere podcasts, hosted by Lauren, provides over 80 interviews and presentations ‘dedicated to celebrating the diverse women in Automotive and Motorsports Industries.’ Videos of Women of the Autosphere are also included on Eric’s Gran Touring Motorsports website. For those interested in all things women in motorsport, I would strongly suggest making an online visit to either of these locations. Through their incredible efforts, Eric and Lauren have brought motorsport women to the mainstream. I invite you to take a look!
Participating in academic conferences is not only a great opportunity to present one’s work, but leads to encounters with other scholars with similar interests. While presenting at the Popular Culture Association National Conference a number of years ago, I was included on a panel with Katherine Parkin, a professor of social history at Monmouth University. Parkin had just published Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars, which went on to win the Emily Toth Award for best book in women’s studies and popular culture. Since we were both writing about women and cars, we had a lot to talk about. While my scholarship is primarily limited to that topic, as a historian Parkin writes on a variety of subjects; her research interests include the history of women and gender, sexuality, advertising, and consumerism. Parkin is often sought after to engage in various projects; however, as both a teacher and researcher she does not always have the time to accept all of the invitations. To my good fortune, Parkin has passed on some of those projects to me. These have included a book review, a chapter in a book on the history and politics of motorsports, and the most recent, an introduction to Limousine – a recently published book of award-winning photographs by Kathy Shorr.
The photographs in Limousine were taken in 1988, shortly after Shorr graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York. For this project, Shorr became a limo driver for nine months, working for the Crystal Limousine Company in Brooklyn. Unlike the majority of Brooklynites who did not possess driver’s licenses, eschewing the automobile in favor of public transportation, Shorr grew up a car girl; she purchased her first car – a Buick Skylark – while still a teen. Thus the decision to select a limo for this project came naturally to Shorr as it satisfied her love of driving while the vehicle served as a studio on wheels. As I write in the intro, “The limo’s posh interior served as a private space for personal conversations, boisterous drinking parties, and more than a few romantic interludes. While the limousine served a practical purpose, it also transmitted messages about those who rode in it. Shorr’s passengers called upon the limousine to construct new, albeit temporary, versions of themselves, captured forever on black-and-white film.” The photos in this collection are extraordinary, effectively capturing a place in time and the people who inhabited it.
I truly enjoyed working on this special project. Shorr was a delight to work with and peppered our conversations with engaging and often humorous car stories. I am so proud to be a part of this amazing endeavor, and am honored that I was selected to write the introduction. Of course it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for a chance meeting with Katie Parkin at PCA. So thank you to Katie and Kathy. I am forever grateful for the connections I have made in this third act of my life.
This past weekend was the 8th Annual Michael Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History, held at Watkins Glen International Speedway media center. Unlike the past two years, I was on the organization team and was also a presenter. As usual there were a mixed bag of presentations – some were fascinating and others less so. There are papers on just about every motorsport interest so it makes sense that some would appeal to me more than others.
The most inspiring presentation of the weekend was that of the keynote speaker, legendary racer Lyn St. James. I had just recently finished her book so while some of the stories she told were familiar, I was intrigued by many of the experiences she had originally left out. Lyn and I are from the same generation, so I was particularly moved by the influence of the women’s movement on her progression from racer to women’s racing advocator. Her recollections of conversations with Billie Jean King in the quest to promote women’s sport were especially compelling. I had brought my copy of Lyn’s book with me to the symposium; she signed it with the most inspirational message. It was quite an exciting day.
My presentation was scheduled on the second day. It was a lengthier repeat of the talk I gave earlier this month to the Silverstone on the history of women-only racing. It went pretty well; I had many good questions from the audience and the women in particular seemed to appreciate it. Some of the men, not so much.
The weekend is filled with other activities that provide an opportunity to network and socialize. As this is my fourth time at the conference [second presenting] I am starting to feel more comfortable. My introduction as the Society of Automotive Historians Vice President also gives me an air of legitimacy in the room.
Although I returned exhausted [a 6AM flight will do that], the weekend was ultimately a fulfilling one. I was able to present to a knowledgeable and interested crowd, mingle with a bunch of like-minded motorsport enthusiasts, and received words of encouragement from a racing legend. How cool is that!
On a trip to the California Automobile Museum last spring, I chanced upon an exhibit focused on women in lowrider culture. “Rucas y Carruchas: Ladies in Lowriders” celebrated the contributions of women in the lowrider community. The collection of colorful, spectacular cars was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, as well as personal stories that spoke of family, community, friendship, heritage, and the meaning of lowriders to the women who own them. As someone interested in the connection between women and cars, the exhibit piqued my interest. Upon investigating the matter a little further, I came upon a number of online articles and reports focused on the rise in female lowrider clubs and communities in the Latino communities in the Southwest United States. What makes this news exceptional is that lowrider culture has long been the province of men, a practice handed down from fathers to sons, from one generation to another. While women have always been part of lowrider culture, it has been primarily in the role of passenger, girlfriend, or a scantily clothed photographic model. However, as I discovered, women have become increasingly involved in the culture as creators and drivers, forming their own clubs, and challenging the male dominated nature of the lowrider scene.
To the uninitiated, the lowrider is a customized domestic automobile – preferably a 1960s vintage Chevy Impala – painted in one of many spectacular and iridescent “candy” colors – bright pink, green, orange, deep purple, or red – highlighted with metal flake coatings, and finished with up to 18 layers of clear lacquer. The car bodies often serve as canvases for elaborative paintings of religious icons, cultural symbolism, the zoot suited pachuco, and shapely women. Lowrider interiors are often elegantly upholstered and intricately detailed in lush fabrics. However, while the lowrider is often recognized and admired for its aesthetics, the lowrider’s defining style is the lowered body that hovers mere inches from the pavement. This appearance is often achieved through the removal of rear shock absorbers and a pile of sandbags in the trunk; however, more sophisticated vehicles rely upon hydraulic technology to raise and lower the massive body frame. While the American hotrod of the white working-class male is most often associated with power and speed, bajito ysuavecito – “low and slow” – epitomizes the lowriding culture. The lowrider is meant to be seen; consequently, as Brenda Bright writes in “Heart Like a Car,” owners of lowrider vehicles “drive these beautiful, luxurious roadway spectacles very slowly, literally taking over the road and forcing other drivers to ‘deal with’ their slow, deliberate driving style” (583).
Attendees of a lowrider exhibition, wearing Zoot suits of the Mexican American subculture known as Pachucos (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)
The lowrider subculture has a long and embedded genealogy in Mexican-American culture. It originated in the “car-saturated prosperity” of post World War II America and has remained integral to Chicano cultural identity into the twenty-first century. While hot rods and drag racers were the white male working-class vehicles of choice, Mexican-Americans proceeded in the opposite direction and created the lowrider. Young Chicanos appropriated the domestic automobile – which symbolized American values of independence, freedom, and social mobility – and reinvented it for their own use.
Lowrider customization is a form of work in which the Chicano takes a great amount of pride. As Ben Chappell writes, “Lowriders join industrial objects with craft, endowing them with new significance. With reference to Mexican-American history, the investment of a car with symbolic value and manual labor (as well as folk mechanical engineering) with prestige is a posture of resistance to a ‘community identity’ that labels Mexican-Americans as cheap labor” (637). The Chicano community demonstrates its pride not only by cruising “low and slow,” but also through participation in regional car shows and “hopping” competitions. These events provide an opportunity for the Chicano lowrider to demonstrate creativity, artistic skill, as well as technological ability.
Dueñas Lowrider Club
While some women remain participants in conventional lowrider culture, there are others who have broken away to establish new female and family focused lowrider communities. They have appropriated many of the culture’s longstanding traditions and practices while creating new spaces for like-minded female enthusiasts. These clubs and communities have become sites for creativity, invention, friendship, and family. Of the solidarity found in the lowrider community, one member declared, “you have all the pressures of going to work, coming home, but you know with the club sisters, we find time and manage to go out; they’re a very big support system for myself. We treat each other like family.”
Whereas traditional lowrider culture was centered on the connection between fathers and sons, women have expanded the generational focus to promote not only their own participation, but most importantly, to encourage that of young girls. As a founding member of the Dueñas Club in California explained, “It’s really important that us mothers, us women, show support for our girls. It’s nice to be able to do things with your daughter that she’s also going to love. You know showing my daughter the ways, embracing the culture, the love, and just really being influenced.” Many of the girls begin their immersion into lowrider culture with bikes. As a young member remarked, “I’m involved because my mom, she’s part of the car club, and then over time, I started going with her to the car shows, bike shows, and I was thinking to myself I want one of those. You see your creation come to life, and everything that you’re planning, it just makes you feel really good.” When these young girls become adults, they often follow in their mother’s footsteps. Angel Romero, founder of the all-women’s car club Duenas, spoke of her mother’s influence. As she recalls, “Back then, we didn’t see a lot of women driving lowriders. People would joke that the lowrider was my boyfriend’s or Daddy’s ride. […] We got into this lifestyle and culture very differently from most people. It wasn’t our dad or a male role model who taught us about cars. It was our mom.”
The women who participate in lowrider culture view their vehicles not only as spectacular machines, but also as canvases on which they can express their creativity, culture, and identity. In the “Rucas y Carruchas” exhibit, for example, the collection was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, and personal stories written in notebooks and scribbled on scraps of paper. Personal artifacts were often strategically placed around the cars, which offered a glimpse into the lives and dreams of the women who owned them. This practice begins in girlhood; in online club photographs, bikes are often surrounded by a young girl’s important possessions.
Women in lowrider culture are getting recognition in local and national news sources. Lowrider magazine, dubbed the movement’s “bible” by readers worldwide and is considered the source for the latest in everything lowrider, published a special edition in October 2024 dedicated to ‘women shaping the culture’ in honor of women’s history month. As noted in an article in Motor Trend, “Historically, depictions of women in Lowrider magazine were often limited to models on the hoods of cars. This limited-edition revival highlights the women behind the wheel who have fought for their place as drivers, builders, mechanics, painters, and welders in a male-dominated world.”
For generations, lowrider culture has evolved as an important site of collective and individual identity formation among Chicano fathers and sons in the southwestern United States. In the twenty-first century, women within these locations have embraced the historical, cultural, and creative components to construct new female-centered communities focused on friendship, family, and a shared passion for the iconic lowrider automobile.
Bright, Brenda. “Heart Like a Car: Hispano/Chicano Culture in Northern New Mexico.” American Ethnologist. 25.4 (1998): 583-609.
Chappell, Ben. “Lowrider Style: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Scale” in Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Michael Ryan, ed. Malden MA: Blackwell, 2008.
Figueroa, Fernanda and Melissa Perez Winder. “Lowriding is More Than Just Cars: It’s About Family and Culture for Mexican-Americans. 15 Oct 2024. APnews.com 15 Oct 2024.
Good Morning America. “Meet the Moms and Daughters of this All-Female Lowrider Community.” 8 Feb 2024. Video.
Romero, Angel. “How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley.” 27 Sep 2024. kqed.org
The Pontiac Transportation Museum is the newest entry into the Southeastern Michigan automotive museum collective. Housed in a former elementary school in Pontiac, Michigan, it will officially open to the public in mid July 2024. As a member of the MotorCities National Heritage Area, I was able to attend a private tour and presentation this past Wednesday evening. The museum will be constructed in stages; while phase one is currently complete, there are three more phases scheduled to be developed over the next few years. Our group not only toured the completed section, but were also offered a ‘sneak peek’ at what’s to come.
Pontiac factory workers
The Pontiac Transportation Museum is an institution of both place and auto manufacturer. While the museum tells the story of the auto maker’s rise and fall, it also endeavors to connect to the community and is involved in energizing its development and revitalization. As noted in a story in the Detroit Free Press, the intent of the museum is to reflect the ‘place, people, and its stories.’
Restroom Photograph
As a new museum with limited artifacts on display, I did not expect to find many representations of women in the automotive exhibits. My first encounter with such images was in, of all places, the women’s restroom, which displayed three oversized color photos of women driving Pontiac vehicles from the late 1950s and early 1960s. I was later told by one of the tour guides that much consideration was given to the restroom as ‘that is what is most important to female visitors.’ I had to squelch a guffaw.
Woman’s car story
Other representations in the museum included advertisements, photographs, and promotional materials. There were interactive displays which featured photos of women in various decades of the automaker’s history as drivers, consumers, and workers. As was mentioned during the tour, the majority of vehicles on display are donated and are primarily ‘one owner’ cars. There were a few automobiles with female donors that included stories of how the car was acquired as well as personal automotive histories. While touring one of the yet-to-be developed sections, our attention was brought to three Pontiac Firebirds specifically developed for the female market. As our guide explained, the Skybird [blue] was offered from 1977-78, the Red Bird for 1978-79, and the Yellow Bird in 1980.
Yellow Bird
While there weren’t a lot of examples of women’s relationship to cars on the floor, the slide presentation provided a philosophy of the museum that was very much geared toward diversity and inclusion. As is noted on the museum’s website, ‘a very significant part of the PTM’s mission involves educational outreach to the community – particularly STEAM-related education in Pontiac primary, secondary, and vocational schools.’ The museum is positioning itself as not just a collection of cars, but as a source for Pontiac’s social history; i.e. how the car manufacturer affected the city in which it existed as well as the people who drove its cars and made its products. The presentation also made note of the PTM’s ‘female empowerment mission’ and included photographs of visiting girls and women’s groups as well as influential women within the industry.
Girl Power
Living in the auto-rich area of Southeastern Michigan has provided me with unique opportunities to not only visit a number of automotive museums, but to attend special events such as this private tour of the soon-to-be-opened Pontiac Transportation Museum. I look forward to watching the PTM’s progress over the next several years.
In my quest for evidence of women’s automotive history in museums centered on the automobile, one of the categories I encountered from time to time was the ‘special exhibit.’ These exhibits are often put together to commemorate certain events in women’s history. The 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in 1920, which unfortunately occurred during COVID, was an occasion to assemble various artifacts related to women’s attainment of the vote. The automobile was an important tool in the suffrage campaign. In the spring and summer of 1916, the transcontinental suffrage tour from New York to San Francisco was one of the actions taken to spread the word of the importance of the women’s vote as well as “to persuade male party leaders to include woman suffrage platforms at both the Republican and Democratic national convention” (Lesh 136). The automobile was not only called upon as the primary mode of transport, but also served as a platform on which to speak and the means of a quick getaway should crowds get hostile. It is not surprising, therefore, that the anniversary of women’s enfranchisement was a popular motive for a women’s automotive history exhibit, even though the pandemic caused many of the displays to be postponed a year or two.
‘Women Who Motor’ at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House
‘Women Who Motor’ was such an exhibit. It made its debut at the historic Edsel and Eleanor Ford house in the Detroit suburbs, then moved to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. The display featured a reproduction of the Motorwagen driven by Bertha Benz to advertise her husband’s invention, an 1899 Locomobile steam runabout like the one Joan Newton Cuneo purchased to enter the AAA’s inaugural Glidden Tour, as well as stories and photographs featuring female automotive legends including Alice Ramsey, Helene Rother, Margaret Elizabeth Sauer, Audrey Moore, Betty Skelton, and Danica Patrick. As the Gilmore teams notes, “this exhibition offers a glimpse into the world of women and the automobile. It is designed as a jumping off point for your own exploration into how the automobile has influenced women, and how women have influenced the automobile.”
Special Exhibit at the Saratoga Automobile Museum
Women’s History Month is also an occasion to draw attention to women’s automotive achievements. While many museums create special displays to honor women in automotive, they are often are a collection of artifacts the museum already possesses, grouped together for the month of March. As Helen Knibb writes, “The first and often only opportunity curators may have to introduce women’s history to the public comes through temporary exhibitions on special themes. But temporary exhibitions exist for a fixed period and are then dissolved” (356).
Chrysler driven by Vicki Wood, on display at the Henry Ford Women’s History Month exhibit
The Henry Ford created a number of these exhibits in March 2024. While the displays included female achievements in a wide variety of endeavors, special attention was given to women’s relationship to the automobile. Within the Henry Ford museum a display was created to celebrate women in racing. Featured artifacts included the Chrysler 300 driven by Vicki Wood at Daytona Beach in 1960, the racing glove worn by Janet Guthrie in the 1977 Indianapolis 500, as well as Sarah Fisher’s racing suit, worn during her third place finish at the Kentucky Speedway in 2000. The Ford Rouge Factory Tour, park of the Henry Ford experience, focused on significant innovations and contributions to the automotive industry made by female inventors and entrepreneurs. Accompanying the main exhibit were interactive displays that offered adults and children the opportunity to engage in Women’s History Month activities
‘She Drives’ exhibit at the Automotive Hall of Fame
I recently had the opportunity to visit a special exhibit at the Automotive Hall of Fame. ‘She Drives’ celebrates racing’s pioneering women. The exhibit includes stories of 11 inspiring women “shaped through their stories artifacts, and cars that shaped their paths.” Featured race car legends include Bertha Benz, Janet Guthrie, Lyn St James, and Shirley Muldowney. There is also an opportunity to participate in the She Drives Road Tour, which includes a visit to the exhibit at AHF as well as stops at other museums and places of interest in the metropolitan Detroit area.
Lowrider at the California Automobile Museum special exhibit
While racing and suffrage are common women-in-automotive-history exhibit themes, the most unusual and fascinating exhibit I encountered was that of female low riders featured at the California Automobile Museum this past April. This exhibit was not just a collection of artifacts packed away in the museum’s archives, but a carefully constructed original display that imaginatively reflected the region’s lowrider history and culture. I suspect that this is a traveling exhibit that will eventually make its way to other museums in the state.
From The Henry Ford
While special exhibits provide an opportunity for automotive museums to draw attention to women’s relationship to the automobile, it is unfortunate that such attention is most often limited to special occasions. Such exhibitions, Knibb argues, require museums “to reassess the balance of exhibition theme and included the ‘underside’ of history, topics which have traditionally been poorly documented or under-represented in exhibition” (357). As Knibb notes, museum collections are often shaped by what the museum has – the ‘survival of objects and the personal tastes of donors’- rather than by any planned efforts to collect and develop artifacts representative of women’s automotive participation (361). Perhaps increased attention to women’s automotive history within the museum would plant the seed for additional informative, educational, and inspirational donations so that women’s contributions would not only be pulled out for ‘special’ occasions, but would be permanently on display as integral to the museum’s automotive collection.
Knibb, Helen. “Present But Not Visible: Searching for Women’s History in Museum Collections.” Gender & History 6, 3 (November 1994): 352-369.
Lesh, Carla R. Wheels of Her Own: American Women and the Automobile, 1893-1929. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company, 2024.
The history of women and the automobile is a subject that has not received a great amount of attention in scholarship. It wasn’t until 1991 that the first comprehensive history of women’s involvement with the automobile was published. Virginia Scharff’s groundbreaking work, Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age, shattered previous presumptions of women’s relationship with the automobile as it set the stage for further research. Australian historian Geogine Clarsen provided a more international approach to women’s automotive history with the publication of Eat My Dust: Early Women Motorists in 2008. Katherine Parkin, a social historian and professor at Monmouth University, examined the history and social implications of women driver stereotypes in Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars in 2017. While each of these publications are important contributions to the field of women’s automotive history, the focus of each analysis is White women. The assumption, therefore, is that all women, regardless of class, color, or ethnicity, experienced automobility in similar ways.
Entrepreneur CJ Walker at the wheel of her Model T Ford in 1912
Transportation historian Carla R. Lesh, in Wheels of Her Own: American Women and the Automobile, 1893-1929, broadens the scope of women’s automotive history to include the early experiences of Black and Indigenous women. Writes Lesh, “the automobile offered new freedoms: freedom for all Black women from the danger they encountered on public transportation in the era of increasing segregation; freedom for Indigenous women to rebuild cultural, kinship-based, and economic networks shattered by Federal government policies; and freedom for White women from the restrictions of the sheltered, home-centered life of the Victorian era” (2). Yet as Lesh notes, although the majority of women appreciated the automobile as a useful tool to improve their quality of life, gender and racial restrictions often qualified how that freedom might be achieved.
Philip and Eugenia Wildshoe (Coeur D’Alene) and family in their Chalmers automobile, 1916
Lesh places the automotive experiences of White, Black, and Indigenous women into relevant social and historical contexts. Rather than generalize automotive experiences as common to all women, Lesh examines how social factors – including discrimination, geography, and cultural practices – influenced women’s automotive participation. As minorities, Black and Indigenous women’s automotive experiences had more in common with men of their respective populations than White women. Thus Wheels of Her Own does not focus exclusively on female motorists but also considers the social climate in which women took the wheel. Lesh provides valuable insight into how women negotiated entry into the new technological world which, due not only to gender, but also to race, ethnicity, and class, was not always welcoming.
Lesh’s fascinating and important new work is a timely addition to current scholarship focused on the history of women and cars. As an investigation of the divergent automotive experiences of Black, Indigenous, and White women, Wheels of Her Own is a valuable resource for the historical and social exploration of gender, race, and mobility during the early automotive age.
Suffragists leaving New York City in a ‘Golden Flyer’
As someone who has been immersed in car culture from a young age, I have visited a fair number of automotive museums. However as I became increasingly focused on the women-car relationship in my research, my car museum experiences became more analytical, particularly when considered through the lens of gender. As I made my way through the rows and rows of automobiles, and numerous historical displays that poured accolades on the great white men of the automotive industry, I continually asked myself, ‘where are the women?’ This question served as the impetus for my current project: an examination of women’s representation in museums devoted to the automobile.
Women as symbols of safety – Sloan Museum of Discovery
Women are almost absent from the motoring story presented in museums. As Jennifer Clark writes, ‘the motor vehicle is still seen as an object of male interest and is mostly displayed with that perspective foremost’ (286). Yet the reason for this absence is not due to lack of female automotive participation but rather the value placed on women’s automotive roles by male automotive institutions. Women’s relationship with cars, and female participation in car culture, differs considerably from that of men. Because of that difference, women’s engagement with cars – more social than technical – is regarded as less worthy of attention by the male museum establishment. As Clark argues, ‘women need to be rediscovered in the motoring story – and with them, the stories of families, holidays, personal independence, social and economic change’ (286). The themes I developed in this project draw attention to the numerous and varied roles women have occupied throughout automotive history. While I considered both the exceptional and famous women in a previous blog, there are other roles that emerged from my examination of a dozen museums that are of equal, if not greater, significance.
Patti’s Met – Antique Automobile Club of America Museum
Storytellers
The automobiles which line the halls of car museums are often accompanied by placards that provide information on the model, year, and the donor. Often these cards are accompanied by a bit of history regarding the individual who owned the car and how the vehicle arrived at the museum. While the number of cars donated by women is small, the stories they tell reveal women’s relationships, driving histories, and love of automobiles. A 1940 Mercury on display at the AACA museum was donated by the owner’s daughter, who wrote, ‘This car is special to me because it was part of my father’s collection that he loved so much.’ A Berkshire Green and white 1961 Nash was a surprise Christmas present for a woman who had expressed admiration for Metropolitans while at a car show. The restored vehicle sports a front license plate with the words ‘Patti’s Met.’ A bright blue 1950 Nash Statesman Super Airflyte at the Wisconsin museum was purchased by a woman with the goal of learning to drive. Despite the woman’s good intentions, however, that never came to pass; the car sits on the museum floor with just 61 original miles.
While narratives regarding men and their machines are commonplace, the stories that accompany vehicles call attention to the hidden relationships forged between women and their cars. Whether a connection to an absent parent, fulfillment of a lifelong dream, or a project of good intentions, the origin stories suggest there is are histories of women’s automotive interest and love for cars worth investigating.
Symbols
Promotional postcard – Wisconsin Automotive Museum
Much of women’s presence in automotive museums is found in advertising and promotional materials. Luxury brands in particular often relied on female imagery to lend sophistication, glamor, and elegance to their automobiles. Using female imagery to sell automobiles is a long standing practice; as evidenced by museum materials such selling tactics began as soon as women took the wheel. Women in early automotive advertising were also called upon to demonstrate qualities of the automobile believed to be important to the female driver, especially cleanliness, quiet, safety, and ease of operation. The Wisconsin Automotive Museum includes a selection of postcards that conflate female characteristics with the 1913 Kissel. Accompanying photos of winsome women employ headlines such as ‘They are good to look at’ to entice potential Kissel buyers.
The museums also call upon larger than life photographs of women as backdrops to the automobiles on display. These images are often accompanied by mannequins costumed in the latest fashion. Such imagery not only provides a historical context for the vehicle, but also equates the physical automobile with a certain level of success and class.
Women as symbols – Gilmore Car Museum
Stereotypes
Stereotypes of the woman driver have existed since women first got behind the wheel of the automobile. Not only has women’s driving behavior served as a source of criticism and humor, but women have also been sexualized as a means to sell product. Items in the museums often reflect the stereotypical ways women have been portrayed throughout automotive history. This is most evident in advertising, where women – due to their presumed lack of automotive acumen – are called upon to promote easy-to-operate vehicles, directed toward family rather than performance cars [because women’s place is in the home], and have bodies called upon as promotional tools. Women driver stereotypes, as it turns outs, are also reflected in the naming of particular automotive features. One of the more interesting options on some of the early Fords was the ‘mother-in-law’ seat, a fold-down, single-person rumble seat in the rear. The commonly used term for this feature no doubt reflects some of the ‘back seat driver’ stereotypes of the time. Such automotive features were also a part of museum tours. For example, according to a [male] guide at the Piquette Plant, women were attracted to the 1907 Model R Runabout for its extensive ‘bling’; to the 1911 Brush Runabout for its easy ride and affordability; and the electric car for its high roof [to accommodate women’s hats], and its extensive use of glass [so that women could be ‘seen’]. While the majority of museum references to women were positive, the negative representations demonstrate that stereotypes regarding women and cars have, and continue, to exist.
Mother-in-law seat – Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum
While these categories offer new ways to consider women’s role in automotive history, they are only a few of the many I was able to discern from the ‘almost absent’ museum artifacts. What these and other roles suggest is that women’s contributions to automotive history and car culture are greater and more varied than previously imagined.
Clark, Jennifer. ‘Peopling the Public History of Motoring: Men, Machines, and Museums.’ Curator The Museum Journal Vol 56 Number 2, April 2013, 279-287.
