Cynthia Wesson

Cynthia Maria Wesson (November 21, 1886 – April 4, 1981) was an American athlete and physical educator. She was a national champion on archery in 1915, taught at the University of Wisconsin, and was president of the United States Field Hockey Association.

Cynthia Wesson
A young white woman with dark hair dressed to the nape, wearing a collared white shirt and a dark necktie
Cynthia Wesson, from the 1909 yearbook of Bryn Mawr College
BornNovember 21, 1886
Springfield, Massachusetts
DiedApril 4, 1981 (age 94)
Cotuit, Massachusetts
Occupation(s)Athlete, physical educator
Known forPresident of US Field Hockey Association
RelativesDaniel Baird Wesson (grandfather)

Early life and education

Cynthia Wesson was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Frank Luther Wesson and Sarah K. Lovell Wesson. Her grandfather was inventor Daniel B. Wesson. Her mother was from Montreal. Her father died in 1887, in a railroad accident, when she was still a baby.[1] Her sister Mabel Wesson Murray wrote a book of poetry.[2]

Wesson graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1909.[3] At Bryn Mawr, she played field hockey under British-born athletic director Constance Applebee, a founding member of the United States Field Hockey Association.[4] She gained further training as a physical educator at the Sargent School for Physical Culture in Massachusetts.[5]

Career
A white woman archer wearing a white hat, blouse, and ankle-length skirt
Cynthia Wesson in an archery competition, from a 1917 publication

Wesson was national women's champion in archery in 1915, 1916, and 1917,[6][7] and again in 1920.[8][9] Footage of her 1915 winning round appeared in newsreels, seen in theatres across the country.[10] Her 1915 record score held until 1931, when it was broken by Dorothy Duggan.[11][12] Wesson played field hockey on Boston's women's team in the 1920s, and was hurt on the field during a 1926 game.[13] In the 1930s, she took up trap shooting.[14]

Wesson taught and coached at the University of Wisconsin.[15] She chaired the hockey committee of the American Physical Education Association in 1922.[16] She was elected first vice-president of the United States Field Hockey Association in 1923,[17] and became the organization's president in 1925.[18][19] She defended the idea of college women's teams competing against one another, at a time when this was a matter of debate.[19] She was associate editor of The Sportswoman magazine.[20]

Wesson was named an honorary member of the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 1929.[21] Also in 1929, she taught at a summer institute in North Carolina for women coaches and physical educators.[22] She remained active in the national leadership of women's archery and field hockey in 1930s[23] and in 1940, when she joined Applebee at the College of William & Mary for the annual tournament.[24] Also in 1940, she announced that the United States Field Hockey Association would buy an ambulance to donate to Great Britain during World War II.[25]

Publications
  • "Lacrosse, a Game for Women and Girls" (1925)[26]
  • "Coaches in America" (1926)[27]
  • "Some Notes on Field and Track Athletics" (1927)[28]
  • "Miss C.M.K. Applebee: A Sketch of Forty Years of Service" (1941)[29]

Later years

In 1965, Wesson gave half a million dollars to the 900 employees of Smith & Wesson in Springfield, as granddaughter of the company's founder.[30] Wesson died in 1981, at the age of 94, in Cotuit, Massachusetts.

References
  1. "Terrible Railroad Accident". Alexandria Gazette. 1887-02-05. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Murray, Mabel Wesson (1920). Happy Children: And Other Verses. F. F. Lovell.
  3. Bryn Mawr College, Class of 1909 (1909 yearbook); via Internet Archive.
  4. Couturier, Lynn E. (2010-11-01). "Considering The Sportswoman, 1924 to 1936: A Content Analysis". Sport History Review. 41 (2): 111–131. doi:10.1123/shr.41.2.111. ISSN 1543-2947.
  5. "News from the Classes: 1909" (PDF). Bryn Mawr Alumnae Quarterly. 7 (1): 19. April 1913.
  6. "Archery Champions Named" The Rocky Mountain News (August 13, 1915): 9. via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
  7. Elmer, Robert P. "Miss Cynthia M. Wesson" American Archery (1917): 74-75.
  8. "America's Three Foremost Women Archers" The Sportswoman 2(15)(April 1, 1926): 9.
  9. "Lead to Elmer in National Archery". The Washington Post. 1920-08-26. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Cynthia Wesson Breaks Archery Record" The College News (September 29, 1915): 1.
  11. "New World Record by Newton Woman". The Newton Graphic. August 14, 1931. p. 2. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  12. "Mrs. Cummings and Miss Duggan Set Records In National Archery Meet at Canandaigua". The New York Times. August 12, 1931. p. 22.
  13. "Boston Girls Rout Fairchester, 9-2; Cynthia Wesson Hurt in Field Hockey Game". The Boston Globe. 1926-11-26. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Cynthia Wesson Clips 45 Targets". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1939-01-29. p. 44. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Women at University Follow in Footsteps of William Tell". Madison Capital Times. May 6, 1930. p. 5. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  16. "News Notes". American Physical Education Review. 27 (6): 298–300. June 1922. doi:10.1080/23267224.1922.10650841. ISSN 2326-7224.
  17. "Westh'ton Sends Representative to Eng. Hockey Camp". The Collegian (University of Richmond). October 5, 1923. p. 6. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  18. "Title Again to Philadelphia". The Boston Globe. 1925-11-28. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Couturier, Lynn E. (2012). "Dissenting Voices: The Discourse of Competition in The Sportswoman". Journal of Sport History. 39 (2): 265–282. doi:10.5406/jsporthistory.39.2.265. ISSN 0094-1700. JSTOR 10.5406/jsporthistory.39.2.265.
  20. Masthead, The Sportswoman 2(10)(January 15, 1926): 1.
  21. "Hall of Fame Honorary Members", USA Field Hockey.
  22. "N.C.C. Coach School to Have Hockey Star; Cynthia Wesson, All-American Player, to Direct Hockey Inst". News and Record. 1929-04-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Archery Telegraphic Meet in Charge of Miss Cynthia Wesson". The Capital Times. 1931-05-17. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "In Charge of Tourney". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1940-11-24. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. Lurie, Dora (1940-10-20). "U.S. Women Hockey Players Buy Ambulance for Great Britain". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 45. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. Wesson, Cynthia. "Lacrosse, a Game for Women and Girls" The Sportswoman 1(16)(April 15, 1925): 2-4.
  27. Wesson, Cynthia. "Coaches in America" The Sportswoman 2(10)(January 15, 1926): 10
  28. Wesson, Cynthia (April 1927). "Some Notes on Field and Track Athletics". The Sportswoman. 3 (8): 7–9.
  29. Wesson, Cynthia (October 1941). "Miss C.M.K. Applebee: A Sketch of Forty Years of Service". Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. 12 (sup3): 696–699. doi:10.1080/10671188.1941.10624716. ISSN 1067-1188.
  30. "900 Employes, Smith & Wesson Share $500,000". Transcript-Telegram. 1965-11-03. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-14 – via Newspapers.com.
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