1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 2: Today we are going to talk about Charlotte Cooper, also 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 2: called Charlotte Sterry or sometimes Charlotte Cooper Sterry, who also 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 2: went by the nickname Chatty. She was a tennis player 7 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 2: whose marriage in nineteen oh one meant that news reports 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 2: about her career variously called her Miss Cooper or Missus 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: Sterry or Missus Sterry previously Miss Cooper, or sometimes even 10 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 2: Missus Alfred Sterry. Some of the records she set during 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 2: her lifetime playing tennis were unbroken for almost a century. 12 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 2: One of them actually still stands. We've also never really 13 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 2: covered the history of tennis on the show before, so 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 2: we're going to kick it off with just a little 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 2: bit of that, with some of the focus specifically on Wimbledon, 16 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 2: since a lot of her athletic record was as a 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 2: Wimbledon champion. Wimbledon is still considered one of the most 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 2: prestigious tennis championships in the world, and that reputation was 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,839 Speaker 2: already established when she started competing there. 20 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: When we say, Charlotte Cooper was a tennis champion. We, 21 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: of course mean lawn tennis, played with rackets and a 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: ball on a rectangular court with a net across the middle, 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: usually outdoors, although in spite of the name, lawn tennis 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: mostly not on grass anymore. But there is also court tennis, 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: also called real tennis or royal tennis, which is typically 26 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: played on an indoor court that looks fairly rectangular but 27 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: is really asymmetric. On top of being asymmetric, these enclosed 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: courts also are not standardized, and they have various nooks 29 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: and galleries and other openings around the sides, with a 30 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: visibly sagging net across the middle. Both of these tennis 31 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: games can be played as singles or doubles, and both 32 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: use a similarly confusing scoring system, but otherwise they are 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: very different sports, with different rules, different types of balls, 34 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: and different rackets. 35 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 2: Lawn tennis and court tennis share a lot of history, 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 2: though various games involving balls and paddles or rackets stretched 37 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 2: back to the ancient world, but the clearest precursor to 38 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 2: both of these types of tennis developed in medieval France. 39 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 2: This was called jude pump or game of the hand 40 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 2: or hand game. At first, this was played using a 41 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 2: rope rather than a net, and a stuffed bag rather 42 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 2: than a ball, and then people just use their hand 43 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 2: rather than a racket. 44 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: Judepum was played indoors, and as it was introduced from 45 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: France to Britain, it was just called pum, which people 46 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: spelled all kinds of different ways, gradually getting closer to 47 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: the way palm is spelled today, as in the palm 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: of the hand. In the fourteenth century, as the game 49 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: was becoming more popular on both sides of the Channel, 50 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: people started to shift from using their hand to using 51 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: some kind of paddle. At first, this was not a 52 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: strung racket. It was a long handled, wooden paddle that 53 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: looked almost like a small ore in. The word tennis 54 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: was used to describe this game by the start of 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: the fifteenth century, probably pronounced to nie, I don't know baby. 56 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: That would make sense since this game was played indoors, 57 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: it was most popular among the kind of people who 58 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: had room to do that, meaning royalty and the wealthy court. 59 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: Tennis is one of several sports to become known as 60 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: the sport of. 61 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 2: Kings, and the number of royal deaths are somehow associated 62 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 2: with it. This is not an exhaustive list, but on 63 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 2: June fifth, thirteen sixteen, King Louis the tenth of France 64 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 2: died at the age of twenty six after playing a 65 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 2: very strenuous game of tennis and then drinking a bunch 66 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 2: of chilled wine. That's what happened. His exact cause of 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 2: death is not really clear though. King James the First 68 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 2: of Scotland also liked to play tennis, and he had 69 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 2: been playing a lot of it at Blackfriar's Monastery in 70 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 2: Perth in February of fourteen thirty seven, when some assassins came. 71 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: To kill him. 72 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 2: The king used the iron tongs from the fireplace to 73 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 2: lift up a floorboard, planning to escape from the assassins 74 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 2: through the sewers, but then he found his way blocked 75 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 2: with stones, and that was something that he had ordered 76 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 2: three days before because he kept losing his tennis. 77 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:41,160 Speaker 1: Balls down a drain hole. And then Queen Anne Boleyn, 78 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: wife of Henry the eighth, was also at a tennis 79 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: match in fifteen thirty six when a messenger arrived to 80 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: tell her to present herself before the Privy Council. After 81 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: that she was beheaded. There's also the tennis court oath 82 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: or the semon de ju du poems. On June twentieth, 83 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, at the start of the French Revolution, 84 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: the King had summoned the Estates General to deal with 85 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: a serious economic crisis, and the Third Estate or the Commoners, 86 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,479 Speaker 1: had realized that any of their proposed reforms could be 87 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: blocked by the combined First and Second Estates or the 88 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: clergy and nobility. After the Third Estate tried to establish 89 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: itself as the National Assembly and was joined by some 90 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: members of the other Estates, the King had them locked 91 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: out of their regular meeting room at the Palace of Versailles. 92 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: Fearing that the King was going to try to dissolve 93 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: their assembly or otherwise attack them, they gathered in the 94 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: tennis court, where they swore quote never to separate and 95 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: to meet wherever circumstances require until the Kingdom's constitution is 96 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 1: established and grounded on solid foundations. 97 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,600 Speaker 2: I had always imagined this meeting as happening outside, but 98 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 2: it did not. It was inside. Lawn tennis or field 99 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 2: tennis diverged for this indoor style of court tennis in 100 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 2: the nineteenth century, and usually the person who's credited with 101 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 2: establishing the game of modern lawn tennis is British Army 102 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 2: major Walter Clopton Wingfield, who was born in Wales. He 103 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 2: came up with a collection of portable equipment that could 104 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 2: be set up and played on the same types of 105 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 2: fields where people were already playing croquet. We ran our 106 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 2: episode on the history of croquet as a Saturday Classic 107 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 2: in April of this year. People in this part of 108 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 2: Europe had already been playing outdoor games with balls and 109 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,600 Speaker 2: nets and paddles or rackets, but Wingfield's rule set and 110 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 2: this equipment kit really helped popularize it. 111 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: Wingfield's game had some differences from modern lawn tennis, though 112 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: One was the name. He called it, sharisticky, from Greek 113 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: words meaning something like ballgame. Wingfield's rules described a field 114 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: shaped like an hourglass, with the central net at a 115 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: point that was narrower than the ends of the court. 116 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: This hour glass shape may have just been to make 117 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: the court different enough from existing rectangular game courts that 118 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: he could apply for a patent, and he was granted 119 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: a patent in eighteen seventy four. That same year, lawn 120 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: tennis was introduced into the US, Although there's some debate 121 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: about exactly who should get the credit. 122 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 2: Spheristikei also had a different scoring system. Today, lawn tennis 123 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 2: and court tennis follow the same basic scoring in which 124 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 2: one point is fifteen, and two points is thirty and 125 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: three points is forty. 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: And there's other. 127 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 2: Stuff beyond that, which can all be looked up on 128 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 2: the internet for anybody who wants the details or the 129 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 2: speculation about why this is how it's scored. Uh, there's 130 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 2: various conjecture about why that is that we don't really know. Sporistiky, 131 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 2: on the other hand, was scored like badminton, which was 132 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 2: developed around the same time and named for the Duke 133 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 2: of Beaufort's badminton house in Glass. To share and badminton, 134 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 2: a point is a point and the winner is the 135 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 2: first player to reach a certain number of points. The 136 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 2: exact number has varied over the years, and the particulars 137 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 2: of badminton scoring are also available on the internet. Although 138 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 2: the names fistiki did not stick around, lawn tennis started 139 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 2: to overshadow court tennis, and the term real tennis was 140 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 2: coined in the early twentieth century to make sure people 141 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 2: understood that they were talking about the royal one, not 142 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 2: the one being played out on the croquet pitch. As 143 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 2: the popularity of real tennis declined, some of the spaces 144 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: that had housed those indoor courts were repurposed into things 145 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 2: like museums or theaters. Today, there are about forty real 146 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 2: tennis courts still in use in Australia, England, France and 147 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 2: the United States. The history of the Wimbledon Championships, often 148 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 2: just called Wimbledon, started not long after Walter Clopton Wingfield 149 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 2: got that patent. In eighteen six seventy seven, the All 150 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 2: England Croquet Club changed its name to the All England 151 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 2: Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club after setting aside some of 152 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 2: its croquet space for tennis. The club held its first 153 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 2: championship in eighteen seventy seven. As well, it had men's 154 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 2: singles only, with twenty two players, and the competition, the 155 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 2: first Wimbledon Championship, adopted the earlier scoring system from court 156 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 2: tennis rather than Wingfield's more badminton like system, and by 157 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty the club's official rules were pretty similar to today's. 158 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 2: Wimbledon's first men's doubles championship took place in eighteen eighty three, 159 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 2: and the first women's singles event followed a year later. 160 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 2: The first woman to win Wimbledon was Maud Wilson. The 161 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 2: first permanent spectator stands were built at Wimbledon in the 162 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 2: mid eighteen eighties, largely due to the popularity of twins 163 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,719 Speaker 2: Ernest and William Renshaw, who won a total of thirteen 164 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 2: titles between eighteen eighty one and eighteen eighty nine. This 165 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 2: surge and interest in tennis during their time as players 166 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 2: was nicknamed the Renshaw Rush, and even though lawn tennis 167 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 2: is often called the sport of kings, its connection to 168 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 2: royalty did continue. In the early twentieth century, the Prince 169 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 2: and Princess of Wales, the future King George the Fifth 170 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,959 Speaker 2: and Queen Mary visited Wimbledon, and in nineteen oh seven 171 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 2: the Prince became Wimbledon's patron. Members of the royal family 172 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 2: have continued to serve as Wimbledon's patron since then. Today 173 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 2: that is Catherine, Princess of Wales. Various royals have also 174 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 2: served as president of the All England Lawn Tennis and 175 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 2: Croquet Club, including Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who served 176 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 2: for more than five decades. Ending in twenty twenty one. 177 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 2: Of course, lawn tennis was becoming popular in other parts 178 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 2: of the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth 179 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 2: centuries as well. The United States National Lawn Tennis Association 180 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 2: was established and held its first championship in eighteen eighty one, 181 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 2: the first National French championships were held in eighteen ninety one, 182 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 2: and the Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia held its first 183 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 2: tournament for men in nineteen oh five. Today, winning the 184 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 2: Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Open, and the 185 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 2: US Open is known as a Grand Slam. Wimbledon is 186 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 2: the only Grand Slam championship still played on grass. Charlotte 187 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 2: Cooper's Wimbledon debut took place less than a decade after 188 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 2: its first women's championship, and we will have more on 189 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 2: that after a sponsor break. Charlotte Reinegal Cooper was born 190 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 2: in ealing London on September twenty second, eighteen seventy. Her 191 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 2: parents were Henry Cooper and Teresa Georgiana Miller Cooper, and 192 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,599 Speaker 2: she was the youngest of their six surviving children. Teresa 193 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 2: had been born in Chile and that's where she met 194 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,719 Speaker 2: Henry while he was working as a merchant seaman. They 195 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 2: got married in Chile, and Charlotte's three oldest siblings were 196 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 2: born there as well. Henry Cooper died when Charlotte, also 197 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 2: known as Chatty, was just five. We don't really have 198 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 2: much detail about any of this, but the family doesn't 199 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 2: seem to have struggled financially. After his death. Chatty and 200 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 2: her siblings pursued various sports, with Chatty being particularly fond 201 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 2: of both hockey and tennis. In a nineteen oh three 202 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 2: book on tennis, player and commentator Arthur Wallace Myers described 203 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 2: how Charlotte's years of playing with her siblings lay the 204 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,359 Speaker 2: foundation for her later success. 205 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: Quote. 206 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 2: Constant practice with members of her own family, especially with 207 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 2: her elder sister, brought her to perfection at a very 208 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 2: early date. But it was as a volleyer then quite 209 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 2: a rarity among ladies that miss Cooper sprang into fame 210 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 2: and made such an impression on the public, ally ing, 211 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 2: if you like me, don't really know much about tennis, 212 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 2: that is, hitting the ball back to an opponent before 213 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 2: it has bounced. 214 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: Charlotte noted the importance of playing with her family members 215 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: as well although when more of a focus on her brothers. 216 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: She contributed a chapter on ladies tennis to this same book, 217 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: and in it she wrote, quote, Personally, I attribute my 218 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: success mainly to indulging in outdoor pursuits from my very 219 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: early childhood and joining with my brothers in whatever games 220 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,959 Speaker 1: they played. Later on, when I started tennis, I found 221 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: what great advantage all this had been to me. She 222 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: also stressed the need to learn to do each tennis 223 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: stroke correctly, because unlearning bad form could be very difficult. Quote. 224 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 2: I believe the best way to learn strokes is to 225 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 2: trespass on the good nature of one of the first 226 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 2: class men players and get him to point out how 227 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 2: they ought to be taken. Once this knowledge has been acquired, 228 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 2: should be followed by practicing each stroke separately. A great 229 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 2: mistake I think many lady players make is by always 230 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 2: playing in practice only to win and not to improve 231 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 2: their weak points. A good half hour's knock up with 232 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 2: the latter object in view is of far more value 233 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: than many sets played with the sole idea of bettering 234 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 2: your opponent. 235 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: By the age of thirteen, Chatty was playing and being 236 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: coached at the Ealing Lawn Tennis and Archery Club. Her 237 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: coaches there included C. H. Martin, who would be a 238 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: runner up in the men's doubles at Wimbledon in eighteen 239 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: ninety four, and Harold Mahoney, who had been born in 240 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: Scotland to Irish parents and would go on to win 241 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: the men's singles championship at Wimbledon in eighteen ninety six. 242 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: Charlotte Cooper won her first title at Ealing when she 243 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: was fourteen. In a book on tennis that was published 244 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,359 Speaker 1: in nineteen ten, she said, quote winning my first championship 245 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age of 246 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: fourteen was a very important moment in my life. How 247 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: well I remember, bedecked by my proud mother and my 248 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: best clothes, running off to the club on the Saturday 249 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of nerve, 250 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: would that I had none now and winning that was 251 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: the first really important match of my life. Cooper became 252 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: known for a playing style that was more aggressive than 253 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: what was typically expected of women players, something that she 254 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: did while playing in skirts that came almost to the ground. 255 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: She also served overhead at a time when most women 256 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: served underhand. To quote her entry in the Oxford Dictionary 257 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: of National Biography quote her game was all attack, but 258 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: that same biography also described her as having quote smiling, 259 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: good temper, and great sportsmanship. This included her friendly rivalry 260 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: with Blanche Bingley later Blanche Hilliard, who was about seven 261 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: years older than she was and had competed in the 262 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: first ever women's championship at wimb Both of them played 263 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: and trained at the Ealing Club, including against each other, 264 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: and in the words of Missus Lambert Chambers in the 265 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: nineteen ten Lawn Tennis for Ladies, quote, it was soon 266 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: regarded as a certainty that where Missus Hilliard and Missus 267 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: Sterry entered the lists, one or the other, and not 268 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: one more than the other, was destined to emerge victorious. 269 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: In her nineteen oh three chapter on Ladies Tennis, Charlotte 270 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: said of her friend and rival, quote, Missus Hilliard is 271 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: a splendid example of the true fighter. Her persistency and 272 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: pluck on the court are wonderful, as for her staying power. 273 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: She seems to be able to last forever. She certainly 274 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: heads the list of the most victorious in ladies singles 275 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: and is one of the most sporting of them. Certainly, 276 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: no keener player ever stepped on a tennis court. It 277 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: does not matter if her adversary happens to be a 278 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: third class player to whom she could owe forty and 279 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: give thirty. She is always is just as nice to 280 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: her as if she were her equal. Just the same again, 281 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: in handicap matches, whoever her opponent or partner may happen 282 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: to be, she is just as keen as if it 283 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: were a championship single. Many a valuable lesson can be 284 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: learned by playing against or watching missus Hilliard. 285 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 2: I also found another thing that was by Blanche Hilliard 286 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 2: that was like similarly crazy, talking about how great she was. 287 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 2: In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, people really 288 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 2: only played tennis in Britain during the warmer months, and 289 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 2: Cooper stayed fit in the off season by running and 290 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 2: playing other sports, including hockey. But she wrote that she 291 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 2: didn't think it was a problem to take a break 292 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 2: from tennis during the winter. 293 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: Quote. 294 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 2: My idea is that one plays just as well in 295 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 2: the summer without winter practice. It is rather a good 296 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 2: thing to have a few really good hard practices on 297 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 2: a hard court at easter time, so as to start 298 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 2: with renewed energy and with a you to thoroughly enjoying 299 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 2: the game and doing one's best at it, instead of 300 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 2: making a labor of it, which it must become if 301 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 2: one never puts away one's racket. There are various winter 302 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 2: games to keep one's eye in practice, such as golf, badminton, 303 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 2: and may I be bold enough to mention it ping pong, 304 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,360 Speaker 2: a game which certainly requires quickness of the eye. Cooper 305 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,159 Speaker 2: made her debut at Wimbledon in eighteen ninety three at 306 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 2: the age of twenty two. That year, Lottie Dodd won 307 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 2: the championship and Blanche Bingley Hilliard, listed as Missus g W. Hilliard, 308 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,959 Speaker 2: was the runner up. Lottie Dodd had won the women's 309 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 2: singles championship at Wimbledon five times, starting when she was 310 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 2: only fifteen, and she retired from competitive play after her 311 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 2: eighteen ninety three win. That same year, Charlotte Cooper won 312 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 2: the Ilkley Open at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club in 313 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 2: West Yorkshire. Cooper won her first Wimbledon title in eighteen 314 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 2: ninety five, and then There are a couple of different 315 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 2: versions of how her family reacted. She was staying with 316 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 2: her brother, although in some accounts it was her uncle, regardless, 317 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 2: he didn't live far away, and she was riding to 318 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 2: Wimbledon every day with her tennis racket strapped to the 319 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 2: bicycle frame. When she got back after her win, her 320 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 2: brother asked her where she'd been, and she said at 321 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 2: the championship and she had just won it, and her brother, 322 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 2: who was pruning the roses when she got there, just 323 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 2: carried on with pruning the roses. In the version word 324 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 2: this was her uncle. He similarly didn't really react other 325 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 2: than saying that he was going to go make some tea. 326 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: A lot of the articles online about Charlotte Cooper Sterry 327 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: today are sort of one page profiles of tennis players 328 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: or Olympic athletes, and many of them say that she 329 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: became deaf at the age of twenty six. This would 330 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: have been about a year after her first Wimbledon win. 331 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: There's really not much detail about this, aside from a 332 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: couple of sources that say it was because of an 333 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: infection near the end of her life. In nineteen sixty five, 334 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: Harry Weaver interviewed her for The London Observer in the 335 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: lead up to that year's Wimbledon Championships. That article describes 336 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: her as deaf from the age of twenty six, which 337 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: might be the source for this detail. In a book 338 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,479 Speaker 1: about Wimbledon that was published after her death, her nephew 339 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: Tony Cooper is also quoted as saying he thought he 340 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: was right in saying she had never heard the ball 341 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: bounce because of her deafness. 342 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 2: It doesn't seem like she really wrote or spoke about 343 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 2: this during her competitive tennis career. She did, I was 344 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 2: not able to find anything about it, but that's not 345 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 2: particularly surprising given attitudes about disability in the late nineteenth 346 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 2: and early twentieth centuries, and since people used the word 347 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 2: deaf to describe a range of hearing loss. We also 348 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 2: don't really know what that meant for her, or whether 349 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 2: she thought it affected her playing at all or led 350 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 2: her to play any differently. 351 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: It is possible, though, that this highlights something about her 352 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: skill as a player. In more recent years, various players 353 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: have talked about the role that sound and hearing can 354 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,439 Speaker 1: play in the sport of tennis, like the sound that 355 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: the ball makes when struck with the racket can offer 356 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,919 Speaker 1: clues about how hard it was hit, how well it 357 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: was hit, and how much spin is on the ball. 358 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,479 Speaker 1: For most people, auditory reaction time is faster than visual 359 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: reaction time, so these sounds can give a player a 360 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: tiny edge overseeing what the ball is doing. Some players 361 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: have argued that if their opponents make too many grunts 362 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: or other noises, or if there are background sounds like 363 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: crowds or airplanes, it can affect their game. There have 364 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,120 Speaker 1: even been some studies in which players have been asked 365 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: to wear noise canceling headphones, with the loss of those 366 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: audio cues seeming to negatively affect their performance. Without more 367 00:21:55,640 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: detail or information directly from her own experience, can really 368 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: only speculate about how Charlotte Cooper's deafness may have affected 369 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,880 Speaker 1: her tennis game and other parts of her life, as 370 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: well as what, if anything she or others may have 371 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: done to make things more accessible. But if this description 372 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: of her as deaf did mean that she had lost 373 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: all of her hearing and the year that happened, that's 374 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: all correct, that would make her one of the first 375 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: known deaf athletes to be competing at this level. It 376 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: would also make her the first known deaf Olympic champion. 377 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,719 Speaker 1: We're going to talk more about that after a sponsor break. 378 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 2: After her eighteen ninety five win at Wimbledon. Charlotte Cooper 379 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 2: won again in eighteen ninety six. Then she was runner 380 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 2: up to Blanche Hilliard in eighteen ninety seven, and then 381 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,880 Speaker 2: one again in eighteen ninety eight. In eighteen ninety nine 382 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,160 Speaker 2: and nineteen hundred, Hilliard won with Cooper as runner up. 383 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 2: They just had a few years swapping back and forth 384 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 2: with which of them was the Wimbledon champion. Between eighteen 385 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 2: ninety four and eighteen ninety eight. Cooper also won five 386 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 2: mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon, with Harold Mahoney and another 387 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 2: with Hugh Lawrence Doherty in nineteen hundred, although at this 388 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 2: point mixed doubles was not formally considered part of the 389 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 2: Wimbledon championships. That didn't happen till nineteen thirteen. Doherty's brother Reginald, 390 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 2: who was also known as Reggie or RF, was also 391 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 2: a tennis player, and he and Charlotte won several mixed 392 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 2: doubles titles in England and Ireland. The nineteen hundred Olympic 393 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 2: Games have made a lot of appearances on the show 394 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 2: at this point, and Charlotte Cooper was there. She was 395 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 2: one of twenty two women to compete in the nineteen 396 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 2: hundred Games and won the women's singles in tennis. Another 397 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 2: person we just mentioned, Helen de Bortales, had been part 398 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 2: of the winning team in the one to two ton 399 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 2: sailing event a couple of months before, so this made 400 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 2: Cooper the first woman to win an Olympic event as 401 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 2: an individual competitor rather than part of a team. 402 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: She and R. F. Doherty also won in mixed doubles. 403 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: The tradition of awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals to 404 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: the first, second, and third place winners did not begin 405 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: until the next Olympic Games in Saint Louis in nineteen 406 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: oh four. 407 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 2: On January twelfth, nineteen oh one, Charlotte Cooper married Alfred Sterry, 408 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 2: who was a solicitor. That year, she was the first 409 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 2: place winner in women's singles at Wimbledon, listed as Missus A. Sterry, 410 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 2: and the runner up was Blanche Hilliard listed as Missus G. W. 411 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: Hilliard. 412 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 2: Sterry won the Wimbledon championship that year without losing a 413 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 2: single set. It doesn't seem like there was a perception 414 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,439 Speaker 2: that Charlotte Cooper Sterry would give up tennis after getting 415 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 2: married Arthur Wallace. Meyer's nineteen oh three book Lawn Tennis 416 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 2: at Home and Abroad, says of her marriage, quote, as 417 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 2: Miss Cooper, her career on the courts was nothing less 418 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 2: than marvelous in its concent distancy and brilliant in its achievement, 419 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 2: And as missus Sterry, there is every reason to believe 420 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 2: it will continue for many years to attract and retain attention. 421 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 2: She did take a couple of breaks from competitive play, though. 422 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 2: In nineteen oh two, Charlotte was the runner up in 423 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 2: women's singles at Wimbledon. The winner was Muriel Robb and 424 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 2: this was at the time a record for the longest final, 425 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,880 Speaker 2: with fifty three games played. Then Charlotte and Alfred had 426 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 2: a son, Rex, in nineteen oh three. Charlotte was runner 427 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 2: up at Wimbledon again in nineteen oh four, this time 428 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 2: against seven time Wimbledon champion Dorothea Catherine Douglas later Dorothea 429 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 2: Lambert Chambers. In nineteen oh five, Charlotte gave birth to 430 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 2: a daughter, Gwendolyn, also known as Gwen. In nineteen oh seven, 431 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 2: Charlotte Cooper Sterry had what is regarded as one of 432 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 2: her biggest wins, Wimbledon had become an Internet national event 433 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 2: by about nineteen hundred, and the first player from outside 434 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 2: the UK to win a singles title at Wimbledon was 435 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 2: American May Sutton in nineteen oh five. Sutton had been 436 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 2: born in England but moved to California as a child 437 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 2: and had learned to play and started competing in the US. 438 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,880 Speaker 2: Sutton had become the youngest women's tennis champion in US 439 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 2: history in nineteen oh four, and would go on to 440 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 2: be the first woman inducted into the International Tennis. 441 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. In nineteen oh six, she was runner 442 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: up at Wimbledon against Dorothea Lambert Chambers, and when she 443 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: returned in nineteen oh seven, she lost only one game 444 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: during her time in the UK, which was to Charlotte 445 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,239 Speaker 1: Cooper Sterry, although to be clear, that was not at 446 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: Wimbledon but at Liverpool. 447 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 2: Sterry later wrote of this quote, I had heard a 448 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 2: great deal about Miss May Sutton, who made her first 449 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 2: appearance in England in nineteen oh five, beating everybody without 450 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 2: the loss of a set. I had also heard she 451 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 2: was a giant of strength, and that the harder one hit, 452 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 2: the more she liked it. The first time I met 453 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 2: her was at Liverpool in nineteen oh seven. I did 454 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 2: not play the previous season. I was determined to introduce 455 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 2: unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in order to entice 456 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 2: her up to the net. The result was that many 457 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 2: of her terrific drives went out, and I think this 458 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 2: was primarily the reason why I was the first lady 459 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 2: in England to take a set from her. I recollect 460 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 2: her telling me after the match was over that my 461 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 2: game was very different to any other she had ever played, 462 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 2: and that she was not anxious to meet me again, 463 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 2: remarks I took as a great compliment. In nineteen oh eight, 464 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 2: Charlotte Cooper Sterry made her Wimbledon comeback, seven years after 465 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 2: her previous win, once again winning the women's singles without 466 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 2: losing a single set. She was also part of the 467 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 2: winning pairs in both women's doubles and mixed doubles, although 468 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 2: neither was officially part of the Wimbledon championship yet. Sterry's 469 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 2: age at this point was thirty seven years, two hundred 470 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 2: and eighty two days, making her the oldest woman to 471 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 2: be a Wimbledon champion. That is a record that still 472 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 2: stands today. Wimbledon Open to both professionals and amateurs in 473 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty seven, with the first open tournament happening the 474 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 2: following year. So sometimes Serena Williams is cited as the 475 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 2: oldest woman to win Wimbledon in the open era. Sterry's 476 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 2: nineteen oh eight wins also made her one of only 477 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 2: a handful of people to win Wimbledon after giving birth. 478 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 2: Although nineteen oh eight was her last Wimbledon win, Sterry 479 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 2: continued to compete there until nineteen nineteen, at the age 480 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 2: of forty eight. This was her eighteenth time competing at Wimbledon, 481 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 2: and she won her opening match that year. After this, 482 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 2: she did continue to play tennis, but she retired from competing. 483 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 2: The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf was established 484 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 2: in nineteen twenty four, which was also the year of 485 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 2: the first International Silent Games, also known as the Deaf Olympics. 486 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 2: Those were held in Paris. We don't really know whether 487 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 2: Charlotte Cooper Sterry was involved in this in any way, 488 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 2: but she would not have been a competitor there Apart 489 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 2: from her retirement in competitive play in that first year, 490 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 2: only men's tennis events were held at the Silent Games. Today, 491 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 2: the Deaf Olympics are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. 492 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 2: Charlotte's daughter Gwen also became a tennis player as well, 493 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 2: and made her first appearance at Wimbledon in nineteen twenty five, 494 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 2: and really their whole family was active in this sport 495 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 2: in one way or another. Charlotte's husband Alfred, served as 496 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 2: president of the International Lawn Tennis Federation, and her son 497 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 2: Rex served as vice chair of the All England Lawn 498 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 2: Tennis Club. Sterry had a personal goal of becoming the 499 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 2: oldest living Wimbledon champion, which for a time she was. 500 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty one, a celebratory lunch was held in 501 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 2: advance of the Wimbledon Championships, and she was the oldest 502 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 2: guest there at the age of ninety. 503 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: Charlotte Coque Sterry died on October tenth, nineteen sixty six, 504 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: at the age of ninety six. By that point she 505 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: had lost much of her sight. Princess Marina, Duchess of 506 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: Kent was president of the All England Tennis and Croquet 507 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: Club at the time and set what Charlotte's son Rex 508 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: described as a very genuine letter and telegram in condolence 509 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 1: during her tennis career, Charlotte Cooper Sterry made it to 510 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: the Wimbledon finals eight times in a row between eighteen 511 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: ninety five and nineteen oh two, a record that remained 512 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: until Martina Nevertalova made it to her ninth consecutive Wimbledon 513 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: finals in nineteen ninety In total, Sterry won the women's 514 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: singles at Wimbledon five times, as well as championships in 515 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 1: Ireland and Scotland and various other championships and Challenge Cups 516 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: all around the UK. She also was part of the 517 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,840 Speaker 1: winning pair in mixed doubles at Wimbledon six times, five 518 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: of them consecutively, before mixed doubles was recognized as an 519 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,120 Speaker 1: official championship there. She made it to the finals of 520 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: the first recognized women's doubles championship in nineteen thirteen. A 521 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: century later, in twenty thirteen, she was posthumously inducted into 522 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: the International Tennis Hall of Fame. I kind of love her. 523 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 2: I wish we had more detail about, like her personal 524 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 2: life beyond tennis, because pretty much everything I found about 525 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 2: her was about tennis, and athletes do have other things 526 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 2: in their lives besides. 527 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: The sport that they're right. No, I also have a 528 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: little listener mail fantastic. This is going back to. 529 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 2: Our various conversations we've had about Google street View. This 530 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 2: is from I think Leah, I did not ask about 531 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 2: name pronunciation. This is titled street View Bikes. My friends 532 00:31:57,200 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 2: and I did the first imagery back in two thousand 533 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 2: and nine, and the email says, Hi, Holly and Tracy, 534 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 2: I've been listening for many years and finally am writing 535 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 2: because you asked about interesting StreetView images. You probably know 536 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 2: that there is a StreetView bike, but you might not 537 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 2: know the story behind the first images taken on a 538 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: hilly bike trail in Monterey, California. The StreetView team had 539 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 2: modified a tricycle petticab to carry the camera and computers 540 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 2: another hardware, but they were having trouble making it work. 541 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 2: The hardware was so heavy that it kept warping the 542 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 2: bike wheels and they couldn't go up hills. Several of 543 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 2: US bike geek slash Google software engineers who worked in 544 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 2: the same office as the StreetView team helped out by 545 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 2: rebuilding the wheels and adding pedals with clips to allow 546 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 2: more effective writing. Our test run is the first public 547 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 2: imagery from the StreetView bike. We can probably see us 548 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 2: because we tried to say out of view, but that 549 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 2: trike was so heavy we had to switch off periodically. 550 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: I'm including a picture that I suspect were scrubbed out 551 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 2: of so you can just see our helmets. I'm including 552 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 2: his pet tax pictures of my black Golden Retriever mix Vanta, 553 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 2: named after the paint. He's ninety pounds of fuzzy, goofy 554 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 2: cuddy and friendly. Let's open dog pictures. Oh my goodness, 555 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,880 Speaker 2: what a happy dog face like That dog is therapy. 556 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 2: You don't even have to meet them. 557 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: And yeah, there is. 558 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,480 Speaker 2: This picture is just sort of, you know, a view 559 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 2: of the ocean with. 560 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: A strange little visual artifact kind of in the middle 561 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: of it, which definitely looks like it could be two 562 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,040 Speaker 1: people's bike helmets digitally with the rest of them digitally 563 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: scrubbed from the image. Thank you so much for this 564 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: email and these pictures and this story. I love it. 565 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 2: I did not know that Google street View is going 566 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 2: to become the source of amazing emails and discussion that 567 00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 2: it has when we mentioned it, not even in like 568 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 2: a particularly serious way. 569 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, so the briefest of mentions. 570 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, so if you would like to send us a 571 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 2: note about this or any other podcast, we're at history 572 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 2: Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com, and we're on social media 573 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 2: at miss in History. You can subscribe to the show 574 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,239 Speaker 2: on iHeartRadio app and wherever else you like to get 575 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:29,000 Speaker 2: your podcasts. 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