About

Prior to 1938, women were not permitted to join any of the existing rowing clubs along the Schuylkill River. Furthermore, non-collegiate rowing opportunities for women were extremely limited nationwide.

To address this disparity, a core group of women—led by Mrs. Ernestine Bayer, Ruth Adams Robinhold, Gladys Hauser Lux, Lovey Kohut Farrell, and thirteen additional co-founders—established the club. Mrs. Ernestine Bayer chaired the inaugural meeting and has since become widely recognized as the “Mother of Women’s Rowing” in the United States.

PGRC was initially founded as a competitive rowing organization, but for almost 30 years, members were limited to competing among themselves.

• The 1939 Exhibition Race: In July 1939, the Schuylkill Navy agreed to host the first official women’s race on the Schuylkill River as an “exhibition race.” Three double sculls competed. Ernestine Bayer and her rowing partner, Jeanette Waetjen Hoover, won the historic event.
   
• 1940s & 1950s Growth: Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, PGRC members—including Lovey Farrell and Nancy Mudrick—demonstrated impressive technical skill and speed while racing against one another.

 

Institutional Barriers & International Context

Women’s organizations faced significant institutional barriers in the mid-20th century:

• Women’s clubs were not permitted to become members of the Schuylkill Navy until 1968.
   
• Women were excluded from full membership in the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (NAAO), the national governing body for rowing in the United States.

In Europe, women were finally permitted to race in the European Rowing Championships in 1954 after a three-year trial period. Women raced 1,000 meters (compared to the 2,000-meter distance for men) across single sculls, double sculls, four-oared shells with coxswain, and eight-oared shells with coxswain. However, the United States was not invited to send a delegation until 1967.

 

Expanding the Sport: NWRA & National Championships

By the early 1960s, interest in women’s competitive rowing was surging on both the East and West Coasts.

To build a broader competitive platform, PGRC member and coach Joanne Wright Iverson partnered with Ed Lickiss (from Lake Merritt, California) and Olympian Ted Nash to found The National Women’s Rowing Association (NWRA). The inaugural National Championship Regatta was hosted in Seattle, Washington, in 1966.

PGRC rowers achieved significant early success at the national level:

• The PGRC Women’s Eight captured the first National Women’s Rowing Championship title in Seattle in 1966 and successfully defended their title at Lake Merritt, California, in 1967.
   
• PGRC’s Ronnie Socha won the Light Single Dash in 1966.
   
• PGRC’s Jinx Becker won the Elite Single in 1967.

 

PGRC In International Competition

After racing in an exhibition race at a 1967 FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron, the international rowing governing body) men’s regatta in Ontario, Canada, PGRC was invited by FISA president, Tom Keller, to race the Women’s Eight at the European Rowing Championships.

PGRC enthusiastically accepted the invitation, and became the first American women’s rowing club to represent the USA and compete in the European Rowing Championships held in Vichy, France that year. This historic achievement was also the first time a women’s rowing club had represented the United States in any European race. To honor the occasion, then-Mayor James Tate presented the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club with a key to the City of Philadelphia.  The FISA World Rowing Championships inaugural race was in 1962 and was held every four years until 1974 when it became an annual event and allowed women to race.

In 1973, Lois Trench-Hines was selected for the first US Women’s National Team and raced at the European Rowing Championships in Moscow, USSR.

The Olympics first allowed women’s rowing in 1976, racing 1000 meters until the distance moved to the standard 2000 meters in 1988.

The NWRA and NAAO merged in 1986 to become United States Rowing Association, which was later rebranded as US Rowing.

In addition to being the first Women’s Eight representing the USA at the European Championships in 1966 (Vichy,  France), the Philadelphia Girls Rowing Club has had members represent the United States and race internationally at FISA World Championships: 

Liesel Hud:

1983 Pan American Team, Alternate: Caracas, Venezuela

1985 USA National Team Women’s Quadruple Sculls: Hazewinkel, Belgium

1986 USA National Team Women’s Double Sculls: Nottingham, England

Kathy Kelly and Alison Weiner:

1984 FISA Lightweight World Championships: Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls, Montreal, Canada

PGRC has had members represent the USA at the Junior World Championships multiple times.

 

PGRC Members: Notable Firsts in Leadership

Non-collegiate women were permitted to become members of other boathouses on Boathouse Row beginning in the 1970s.

As women have become prominent on the rowing scene, PGRC members have served the rowing community with several notable firsts:

Liz Bergen became the first female Commodore of the Schuylkill Navy.

The 1967 Vichy Eight received the USRowing Trailblazer Award and was inducted into the US Rowing Hall of Fame in 2022.

Ernestine Bayer was the first woman inducted to the National Rowing Foundation’s Hall of Fame; the first woman to receive the US Rowing Medal for Service and Feats in Rowing, and the first woman to win US Rowing’s Carlin Award for Service. She was also nominated for the Sullivan Award, given annually to the top U.S. amateur athlete.

PGRC hosted the launch of the United States Postal Service’s first stamp to honor women’s rowing.

 

PGRC Collections Today

PGRC’s paper archives are housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

PGRC has an extensive collection of artifacts, many of which are displayed on the Rowing History Project.  But the Club also has a large collection of photographs and archival materials tracing its history from its founding, up until today; these are currently being cataloged for display on RHP.  Many of these objects celebrate the national and international triumphs listed above.

We hope you enjoy browsing the PGRC collection and reading about her history in the context of the movement to expand athletic opportunities for all women.