Oral Histories of Women Leaders in the Early Years of Title IX
May 03, 2018 7:15 AM
Diane LeBlanc
Oral Histories of Women Leaders in the Early Years of Title IX

In 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments became law, transforming sports opportunities for girls and women in the U.S.

Author Diane LeBlanc chronicles Title IX's passage and implementation through the stories of eight women physical educators, coaches, Olympic athletes and administrators, in her book Playing for Equality: Oral Histories of Women Leaders in the Early Years of Title IX (2016).

The narratives recall the experience of being female in mid-20th century, the influential teachers and mentors, and their work creating recreation, sport and athletic opportunity. They reveal gender, race and class inequity in higher education and athletics and describe how women leaders worked through sports to make women's rights human rights.

Diane LeBlanc is a writer, teacher, and book artist with roots in Vermont, Wyoming, and now Minnesota. She directs the writing program and teaches first-year writing, gender studies, and American Studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Her poetry chapbooks are This Space for Message (2017), Sudden Geography (2014), Dancer with Good Sow (2008), and Hope in Zone Four (1998). Poems and essays appear in journals including Bellingham Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Journal, Mid-American Review.