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The 1904 Los Gatos High School Women's Basketball Team

It took a long time for ladies of the court to find acceptance at the Olympic games.

 

Pictured here are the members of the Los Gatos High School women’s basketball team in 1904.

James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891 at a Massachusetts YMCA. The first women’s basketball team was organized at Smith College in 1892 adapting the rules to emphasize cooperation. 

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In 1901 the University of California at Berkeley was given an outdoor basketball court for women only by philanthropist Phoebe Hearst. 

In 1914 the American Olympic Committee declared its opposition to the participation of women in the competition, but in 1924 it was included as an exhibition event. 

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In 1976 women’s basketball became an Olympic sport; the Soviet team won the gold and team USA won the silver.

Source: Hooked on Los Gatos, the Library and Museum History Project

John Baggerly Collection

 

 

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