Mable+Fairbanks

In 1939 she bought a pair of skates for a dollar and told herself she was going to learn to be a skater. She learned how to skate on a little patch of ice in her backyard. When she knew how to skate she went to a local ice rink. The owner of the ice rink made her practice before it opened for the day. One morning she met Maribel Vinson who taught her for free and in secret. By the 1940s she had passed all required competion tests but was unable to join because of her color. This did not stop her because she made her own show and traveled around the U.S. In the late 1950s and early 60s she moved to teaching skating lessons. She taught all ages young and old. Many of the students she taught went on to world and national competition success. The racism she saw only made her more determanded make a skating career for herself. She died days before getting into the Women's Sports Foundation. The way that she would be remembered for her remarkable strength and determination. She had a big impact on title IX because she made a huge jump not just for African- Americans but for all women because she was determined and she showed how women would fight for their rights. She not just helped women but she also helped men because now men knew that women could have equal or higher strengths.
 * Mable Fairbanks-**

Go to Women's Rights - Breaking Barriers in Sports (Title IX) [|www.womenssportsfoundation.org] [|http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/images/Debi2.JPG]