162:, a star skater on the New York Chiefs team. In 1959, her coach Buddy Atkinson Sr. said, "She's terrific. She has speed, stamina, the competitive spirit and a wealth of natural ability." In her first year, she earned $ 75 a week. In addition to her first team, the Brooklyn Red Devils, Anderson played on many teams, including the San Francisco Bay Bombers, New York Chiefs, Los Angeles Braves, Hawaiian All-Stars, Arizona Raiders, San Francisco Clippers, and Detroit Devils.
123:. She had four siblings, three of which were older brothers. Anderson was an excellent athlete in school, comfortable in any athletic endeavor. After her mother forbid her from playing baseball because it was too rough, Anderson convinced her parents to let her try skating (letting her mother think she was ice skating, a sport more suitable for young ladies).
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South. Looking back, Anderson reflected: "They knew I wouldn't be able to eat with them or live with them, and they didn't want me to go through that. I was the only Black person, and they were so nice and trying to make me at home. Even though it didn't register that they were trying to look out for
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Myself being black, I don't think ever mattered to anyone as I was respected, treated by all skaters on an equal level, and I don't ever remember once that black was an issue. In fact, I think if you ask anyone of our age group, or of our skating group, we saw no color. No, black wasn't an issue or,
141:, becoming the first Black woman to play the sport. She debuted the same night as George Copeland, the second Black man to skate in the derby and the first to become a popular star. Anderson described her treatment by her fellow skaters:
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clerk, becoming the first black woman to be a parimutuel clerk with the
Southern California Racing Association. She also worked for a consulting firm, training people to get positions in show business.
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At age nineteen, she was awarded Rookie of the Year 1958. Anderson traveled across the U.S. with her team, but she would be sent home to
California when the teams performed in the
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skater. Anderson became the first
African American woman to play professional roller derby when she was chosen as the first pick for the Brooklyn Red Devils in 1957.
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if it was, the person was kind enough to respect me and keep it to themselves. We were family. We were not color. I truly believe this.
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Anderson trained for eighteen months at the
Western Skating Institute in Los Angeles. Her strong performance in time trials at the
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led to becoming the first pick of the
Brooklyn Red Devils. In September 1957, Anderson joined the roller derby owned by
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She retired from skating in the 1970s, when she was in her early thirties. After retirement, she worked as a
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Seattle sports : play, identity, and pursuit in the
Emerald City
235:"Derby Memoirs: A Tribute To Roller Derby History - Darlene Anderson"
396:. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 143–144.
366:"Darlene Anderson broke roller derby color barrier in 1958"
338:. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 90–91.
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Roller derby : the history of an
American sport
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16:American roller derby skater
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425:"Events & Inductees"
312:(3): 60–64. January 1959
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205:"Meet Darlene Anderson"
115:Life and skating career
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80:San Francisco Clippers
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128:John Muir High School
484:Roller derby skaters
370:Los Angeles Sentinel
302:"Roller Derby Demon"
121:Pasadena, California
29:Personal information
126:She graduated from
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452:Roller Derby Demon
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233:Behrens, Loretta.
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109:roller derby
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67:Roller derby
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474:1939 births
209:Derby Dolls
34:Nationality
468:Categories
181:References
167:parimutuel
152:segregated
95:Turned pro
434:April 19,
409:April 20,
375:April 20,
316:April 19,
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130:in 1957.
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63:Sport
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