She was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by bicycle in 1895! Why? You know, just because and to show that she could do it and that women can do ~anything.~
The other day I was listening to a podcast, Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities, when I first heard about this remarkable woman and I knew I had to find out more. She was Jewish, an immigrant, a woman, and a wife and mother who broke the social rules of the time, leaving home to chase adventure! She was the epitome of the increasingly-independent "New Woman" of the time, a protofeminist resisting traditional female roles for the purpose of proving she (as well as other women) could do anything a man could do.
Background: the importance of the bicycle in the 1800's & in women's lives
I never realized it, but the bicycle was very much a vehicle of social liberation not long before the 20th century. Bicycle sales soared in the 1890's as men began using them to commute to work. Women also took part in the freeing activity of cycling. The advent of this human-powered two-wheeled vehicle not only led to women having more freedom of travel, but also led to more freedom of dress.
Cycling gave women the independence to go where they wanted without a chaperone and away from the confines of home life. In addition, women eventually shed their corsets and heavy billowing skirts for bloomers so they could ride comfortably. These facts undoubtedly caused a stir, or rather an uproar, within a society that exalted Victorian conventions about female decency and respectability.
Critics deemed cycling as both scandalous and medically dangerous--of course none of this applied to men, though their genitals were also making contact with the saddles. There were many questions related to sexuality: would straddling the seat combined with the motion of pedaling and the vibrations of the mechanism lead to female arousal? Would the activity be too sexually stimulating for women? Women's sexual stimulation was completely unacceptable, and if they were given such mobility and independence through the activity of bike riding, surely they would go on to leave their husbands for faraway men (*eyeroll.*)
Cycling gave women the independence to go where they wanted without a chaperone and away from the confines of home life. In addition, women eventually shed their corsets and heavy billowing skirts for bloomers so they could ride comfortably. These facts undoubtedly caused a stir, or rather an uproar, within a society that exalted Victorian conventions about female decency and respectability.
Critics deemed cycling as both scandalous and medically dangerous--of course none of this applied to men, though their genitals were also making contact with the saddles. There were many questions related to sexuality: would straddling the seat combined with the motion of pedaling and the vibrations of the mechanism lead to female arousal? Would the activity be too sexually stimulating for women? Women's sexual stimulation was completely unacceptable, and if they were given such mobility and independence through the activity of bike riding, surely they would go on to leave their husbands for faraway men (*eyeroll.*)
The people who warned about cycling's negative effects on women's health were convinced that the activity would lead to infertility. Similar arguments about reproductive health were made against women being astronauts over half a century later: the gravity in space might pull a woman's menstrual blood back into her uterus and cause physical mayhem (lol.)
Another thing that doctors of the time made up was called "bicycle face." The affliction was described in the Literary Digest in 1895: "Over-exertion, the upright position on the wheel, and the unconscious effort to maintain one's balance tend to produce a wearied and exhausted 'bicycle face' … usually flushed, but sometimes pale, often with lips more or less drawn, and the beginning of dark shadows under the eyes, and always with an expression of weariness." The term and condition itself was meant to dissuade women from riding by playing on the vanity they supposedly possessed. Wouldn't want anyone to see us all sweaty from physical exertion! Girls don't sweat!
Obviously, none of these outlandish assumptions and critiques kept women from riding bicycles. Susan B. Anthony said, "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel."
The bicycle truly was a tangible symbol of the transformation of women's identities at the end of the 19th century.
Annie Cohen Kopchovsky
Annie Cohen was born in Latvia in 1870 and grew up in Boston after her family immigrated to the United States in 1875. She got married at 18 to Max Kopchovsky, a salesman, in 1888 and gave birth to two daughters and a son by 1892. The couple raised their children alongside Annie's siblings and their own families. Annie worked selling advertising space to several Boston newspapers. Not much else is known about their early family life.
Eventually, the Kopchovskys began having financial problems. Annie was only about 24 when she decided she wanted to travel the globe on two wheels to prove a point and to get rich and famous in order to support her struggling family.
The details of the trip's origin are fuzzy and Annie was known for telling tall tales, but according to her, she was trying to settle a bet between two businessmen on whether women were as physically capable as men. Englishman Thomas Stevens was the first person to circumnavigate the globe on a high-wheeler bicycle in 1885, and the businessmen stated that no woman could achieve the same feat. Whereas Stevens completed his feat over the course of two years, Annie decided she could do the same within the timeframe of 15 months. Supposedly, settling the wager would award $10,000 to both the winner of the bet and the cyclist.
Among many who heard this story, the wager as well as the prize money were thought to be an advertising scheme and therefore fictitious. Annie, after all, did know a thing or two about advertising and self-promotion. It is thought that the story was meant to attract more attention and therefore support (financial and otherwise) from those interested. Whatever the plan was, it worked, giving Annie status and recognition as a global celebrity.
Eventually, the Kopchovskys began having financial problems. Annie was only about 24 when she decided she wanted to travel the globe on two wheels to prove a point and to get rich and famous in order to support her struggling family.
The details of the trip's origin are fuzzy and Annie was known for telling tall tales, but according to her, she was trying to settle a bet between two businessmen on whether women were as physically capable as men. Englishman Thomas Stevens was the first person to circumnavigate the globe on a high-wheeler bicycle in 1885, and the businessmen stated that no woman could achieve the same feat. Whereas Stevens completed his feat over the course of two years, Annie decided she could do the same within the timeframe of 15 months. Supposedly, settling the wager would award $10,000 to both the winner of the bet and the cyclist.
Among many who heard this story, the wager as well as the prize money were thought to be an advertising scheme and therefore fictitious. Annie, after all, did know a thing or two about advertising and self-promotion. It is thought that the story was meant to attract more attention and therefore support (financial and otherwise) from those interested. Whatever the plan was, it worked, giving Annie status and recognition as a global celebrity.
Annie Londonderry & her incredible feat
Annie was not a cycler before her feat. Up until then, she seemingly had not even ridden a bicycle! All Annie had at the start of her journey was the desire for adventure, fame, and wealth, a pearl-handled pistol for protection, and a change of clothing. She set out on June 27, 1894 from the Massachusetts State House wearing a long skirt and a corset, two garments that she did not shed until later in her trip.
It was on that day that she temporarily left her role as wife and mother, leaving her husband at home with three children under the age of six. I wish I knew Max's stance on Annie's bicycle trip, but I could not find any information as to whether he supported her or not. I'm going to assume that he was a nurturing husband and father who supported his wife in all her independent endeavors.
Speaking of her family, Annie kept hers a secret for most of her journey and did not mention them until later interviews because of the stigma attached to women "abandoning" their roles and families. She also adopted a different name to allow for safer travelling, as many areas that she travelled through were not accepting of people of Jewish heritage.
Annie Kopchovsky became Annie Londonderry when she agreed to attach an advertisement for the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company of New Hampshire to her bike in exchange for $100. She became a rolling billboard, which largely helped finance her lone expedition. She earned her way around the world by signing and selling souvenirs (such as photographs of herself,) giving lectures and cycling demonstrations to large crowds, making endorsement deals with other companies, and sometimes appearing as an attraction in stores along her route.
Annie reached Chicago by late September. The weather was beginning to worsen the further West she travelled, her 42-pound ladies' bicycle was difficult to navigate, and her dress was extremely cumbersome. At this point, she switched to a men's riding outfit and traded the ladies' bike for a men's model weighing half as much. Many onlookers were convinced that she was actually a man, because they thought that no woman could bike as much as she had or wear an outfit that was made for men. She ostensibly did not mind the headlines one bit. All press is good press when you're trying to make a statement such as Annie's.
She headed back East to avoid more snow, much more comfortable than she started, and sailed from New York to France in November. It is here that I will mention the obvious: you can't ride a bicycle across the entire earth. When Annie was unable to cycle, she travelled across oceans by steamboat. From France, she made it all the way to East Asia and made stops in Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. She toured through China on her bike and made her way through Japan in March of 1895. Later that month, she arrived back in the United States through the San Francisco Golden Gate strait.
In her lectures, Annie often exaggerated details about her cycling adventures, boosting her popularity in media around the world. She told fans in France that she was an orphan, a medical student at Harvard, a wealthy heiress, and a U.S. Senator's niece. In the United States, she captivated Americans with her fantastical stories of tiger hunting across India with German royalty and of getting shot and sent to prison in Japan. Though she did in fact receive some injuries such as broken bones along the way, Annie embellished the rest of the truth. She was a great storyteller and enjoyed the notability she received from it.
Annie bicycled across the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the Midwest over the next six months. In just under 15 months from her departure, she entered Chicago on September 12, 1985 and was back home in Boston on September 24.
It was on that day that she temporarily left her role as wife and mother, leaving her husband at home with three children under the age of six. I wish I knew Max's stance on Annie's bicycle trip, but I could not find any information as to whether he supported her or not. I'm going to assume that he was a nurturing husband and father who supported his wife in all her independent endeavors.
Speaking of her family, Annie kept hers a secret for most of her journey and did not mention them until later interviews because of the stigma attached to women "abandoning" their roles and families. She also adopted a different name to allow for safer travelling, as many areas that she travelled through were not accepting of people of Jewish heritage.
Annie Kopchovsky became Annie Londonderry when she agreed to attach an advertisement for the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company of New Hampshire to her bike in exchange for $100. She became a rolling billboard, which largely helped finance her lone expedition. She earned her way around the world by signing and selling souvenirs (such as photographs of herself,) giving lectures and cycling demonstrations to large crowds, making endorsement deals with other companies, and sometimes appearing as an attraction in stores along her route.
Annie reached Chicago by late September. The weather was beginning to worsen the further West she travelled, her 42-pound ladies' bicycle was difficult to navigate, and her dress was extremely cumbersome. At this point, she switched to a men's riding outfit and traded the ladies' bike for a men's model weighing half as much. Many onlookers were convinced that she was actually a man, because they thought that no woman could bike as much as she had or wear an outfit that was made for men. She ostensibly did not mind the headlines one bit. All press is good press when you're trying to make a statement such as Annie's.
She headed back East to avoid more snow, much more comfortable than she started, and sailed from New York to France in November. It is here that I will mention the obvious: you can't ride a bicycle across the entire earth. When Annie was unable to cycle, she travelled across oceans by steamboat. From France, she made it all the way to East Asia and made stops in Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. She toured through China on her bike and made her way through Japan in March of 1895. Later that month, she arrived back in the United States through the San Francisco Golden Gate strait.
In her lectures, Annie often exaggerated details about her cycling adventures, boosting her popularity in media around the world. She told fans in France that she was an orphan, a medical student at Harvard, a wealthy heiress, and a U.S. Senator's niece. In the United States, she captivated Americans with her fantastical stories of tiger hunting across India with German royalty and of getting shot and sent to prison in Japan. Though she did in fact receive some injuries such as broken bones along the way, Annie embellished the rest of the truth. She was a great storyteller and enjoyed the notability she received from it.
Annie bicycled across the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the Midwest over the next six months. In just under 15 months from her departure, she entered Chicago on September 12, 1985 and was back home in Boston on September 24.
Annie Londonderry's legacy
Annie returned to her family and they moved to New York City so she could continue telling stories through a comfortable career in journalism. In October 1895 under the byline Nellie Bly Jr., Annie published an account of her incredible journey in the New York World. Her headline read, "the Most Extraordinary Journey Ever Undertaken by a Woman."
When she finally admitted to having a family in interviews, Annie said, "I didn’t want to spend my life at home with a baby under my apron every year." This was certainly a shocking and scandalous thing to say out loud in the 19th century, when every woman was expected to remain in the home, rapidly producing babies and raising them while the husband worked outside the home.
We cannot forget that while Annie made her journey for herself, she was also making it to financially support her family. Annie's boldness screamed that a woman can be more than one thing; she can have a career and hobbies and goals and dreams and be a mother, too. She can be whatever she desires. Her identity is complex and multi-faceted. This was a time in which women could still not vote, yet Annie made a statement to women everywhere that they had autonomy, that their purpose was not and did not have to be solely taking on the roles of dutiful wife and mother.
Annie never made bicycling an important part of her life after returning home, never made any more big headlines, and passed of a stroke in 1947. She died in obscurity and history did not remember her name until at least a century after her journey. I wish we knew more about her adventures, like where she slept when she stopped to rest, what she ate in all the places she visited, and how she dealt with menstruation and general hygiene while pedaling so many miles each month.
I can't stop thinking about how Annie had never ridden a bicycle before and began her journey when she was just 24. I'm almost 24 and I haven't ever travelled by myself let alone been out of the country! She just said Yep, I'm gonna do that and then DID IT. Needless to state, I am incredibly inspired and fascinated by her story of determination, courage, and endurance in an era in which these qualities were stifled in women.
Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a lone Jewish female, travelled thousands of dangerous miles on two wheels across the world, and was the first female cyclist to cross the American continent. She was a pioneer of women's athletics in addition to a role model for women who craved gaining more independence and reinventing their identities in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
When she finally admitted to having a family in interviews, Annie said, "I didn’t want to spend my life at home with a baby under my apron every year." This was certainly a shocking and scandalous thing to say out loud in the 19th century, when every woman was expected to remain in the home, rapidly producing babies and raising them while the husband worked outside the home.
We cannot forget that while Annie made her journey for herself, she was also making it to financially support her family. Annie's boldness screamed that a woman can be more than one thing; she can have a career and hobbies and goals and dreams and be a mother, too. She can be whatever she desires. Her identity is complex and multi-faceted. This was a time in which women could still not vote, yet Annie made a statement to women everywhere that they had autonomy, that their purpose was not and did not have to be solely taking on the roles of dutiful wife and mother.
Annie never made bicycling an important part of her life after returning home, never made any more big headlines, and passed of a stroke in 1947. She died in obscurity and history did not remember her name until at least a century after her journey. I wish we knew more about her adventures, like where she slept when she stopped to rest, what she ate in all the places she visited, and how she dealt with menstruation and general hygiene while pedaling so many miles each month.
I can't stop thinking about how Annie had never ridden a bicycle before and began her journey when she was just 24. I'm almost 24 and I haven't ever travelled by myself let alone been out of the country! She just said Yep, I'm gonna do that and then DID IT. Needless to state, I am incredibly inspired and fascinated by her story of determination, courage, and endurance in an era in which these qualities were stifled in women.
Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a lone Jewish female, travelled thousands of dangerous miles on two wheels across the world, and was the first female cyclist to cross the American continent. She was a pioneer of women's athletics in addition to a role model for women who craved gaining more independence and reinventing their identities in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
"I am a journalist and a 'new woman,' if that term means that I believe I can do anything that any man can do."
~Annie "Londonderry" Cohen Kopchovksy
Sources
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Vn8MAY4Bz4830P8jMmupP?si=TaXXp2exTbyLom32kjNcYw
https://totalwomenscycling.com/lifestyle/10-facts-annie-londonderry
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/obituaries/annie-londonderry-overlooked.html
https://annielondonderry.com/
https://jwa.org/thisweek/jun/25/1894/annie-cohen-kopchovsky
https://jwa.org/blog/jewesses-on-wheels
https://jwa.org/people/kopchovsky-annie
https://worldbicyclerelief.org/annie-londonderrys-legacy-women-breaking-boundaries-on-bicycles/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/72276/retrobituaries-annie-londonderry-first-woman-cycle-around-world
https://totalwomenscycling.com/lifestyle/10-facts-annie-londonderry
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/obituaries/annie-londonderry-overlooked.html
https://annielondonderry.com/
https://jwa.org/thisweek/jun/25/1894/annie-cohen-kopchovsky
https://jwa.org/blog/jewesses-on-wheels
https://jwa.org/people/kopchovsky-annie
https://worldbicyclerelief.org/annie-londonderrys-legacy-women-breaking-boundaries-on-bicycles/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/72276/retrobituaries-annie-londonderry-first-woman-cycle-around-world