Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture - by George Eisen & David Wiggins (Paperback)

About the Book

The editors use the unique lens of the history of sports to examine ethnic experiences in North America since 1840. Comprised of 12 original essays and an Introduction, it chronicles sport as a social institution through which various ethnic and racial groups attempted to find the way to social and psychological acceptance and cultural integration. Included are chapters on Native Americans, Irish-Americans, German-Americans, Canadians, African-Americans, Italian-Americans, Hispanics, and several more, showing how their sports participation also provided these communities with some measure of social mobility, self-esteem, and a shared pride.

Book Synopsis

The editors use the unique lens of the history of sports to examine ethnic experiences in North America since 1840. Comprised of 12 original essays and an Introduction, it chronicles sport as a social institution through which various ethnic and racial groups attempted to find the way to social and psychological acceptance and cultural integration. Included are chapters on Native Americans, Irish-Americans, German-Americans, Canadians, African-Americans, Italian-Americans, Hispanics, and several more, showing how their sports participation also provided these communities with some measure of social mobility, self-esteem, and a shared pride.

Review Quotes

?This anthology constitutes an important contribution to the study of sport and ethnicity. Students of ethnicity and sports, specialists and undergraduates alike, will find this anthology interesting, informative, and engaging.?-The Journal American History

?This collection of 12 essays gathers together material valuable to all serious researchers, students, and teachers of the history of sport. It relates the ethnic experiences in sport during the years from 1840 to 1900 in the US and Canada. The contributors, grounded in the fields of physical education, English, and social science, are well published in the study of the history of sport. The essays dealing with Native Americans, Jews, Japanese Americans, and Hispanic Americans are especially well written. Each essay is followed by extensive and current endnotes that will serve the reader well. The need for more extensive research in the area of ethnic experiences in the history of sport is apparent; this could well be the beginning....It is highly recommended.?-Choice

"This anthology constitutes an important contribution to the study of sport and ethnicity. Students of ethnicity and sports, specialists and undergraduates alike, will find this anthology interesting, informative, and engaging."-The Journal American History

"This collection of 12 essays gathers together material valuable to all serious researchers, students, and teachers of the history of sport. It relates the ethnic experiences in sport during the years from 1840 to 1900 in the US and Canada. The contributors, grounded in the fields of physical education, English, and social science, are well published in the study of the history of sport. The essays dealing with Native Americans, Jews, Japanese Americans, and Hispanic Americans are especially well written. Each essay is followed by extensive and current endnotes that will serve the reader well. The need for more extensive research in the area of ethnic experiences in the history of sport is apparent; this could well be the beginning....It is highly recommended."-Choice

About the Author

GEORGE EISEN is Professor and Coordinator of Sociocultural Study and Sport and Play at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of Children and Play in the the Holocaust (1988), a Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the Year, and Understanding Leisure (1990), as well as numerous articles in The Journal of Sport History, Play & Culture, The International Journal of the Sociology of Sport, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, and many others.

DAVID K. WIGGINS is Professor of Physical Education at George Mason University. He is the author of numerous articles dealing primarily with African-American involvement in sport, in such journals as The Journal of Sport History, Canadian Journal of History of Sport, The International Journal of the History of Sport, and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.