Competitive Figure Skating in the 1920s

Although most rivers and ponds are far from fully frozen in January 2022, it is possible that avid ice skater Ruth Mills was enjoying skating season in the late nineteenth century.  January is National Skating Month and a time for figure skaters to share their love of ice skating with others.  It is the perfect time to learn to skate, but in lieu of getting out on the ice yourself, let us take a look back at skating in the United States a century ago.  Given the skating background of Staatsburgh's curator (me), the subject is one of great interest and I have enjoyed researching and writing about skating these past few years! *              

Unknown skaters enjoying the ice in 1925.
Photo Source

*For more information about Staatsburgh's past programs about figure skating in the Gilded Age, take a look at this Poughkeepsie Journal article, this blog essay, or these essays on Staatsburgh's blog

This month the United States recently crowned the 2022 national figure skating champions in four disciplines (ladies, men, pairs, and ice dance) just as they have done most years since 1914.  The path to today's championships involved years of hard work, sacrifice, and a series of qualifying competitions.  One century ago, the championships were much less formal, there were fewer competitors, skaters were older, and in 1922 the same woman won three disciplines (something that would never happen today)!  Theresa Weld Blanchard won the ladies competition and was one half of the winning pairs and ice dance team with Nathaniel Niles.

Theresa Weld Blanchard, 6-time US National Ladies Champion
Photo: Skating Magazine

Blanchard was from the Boston area, Brookline, MA, and her father Alfred Winsor Weld was one of the founding members of the Skating Club of Boston and the club's second President. The Skating Club of Boston was founded in 1912 and was one of the earliest hubs for successful competitive skaters in the United States.  The club was originally based at the Boston Arena, which opened in 1910 and is one of the oldest skating rinks still in operation today.  

The Boston Globe, February 28, 1921

Weld's family was wealthy; their household employed multiple servants and Theresa's debutante ball in 1912 was featured in The Boston Globe.  She practiced for many years and decided to enter the competitive scene at age 21 in 1914.  Today, many competitive skaters have retired by age 21!    Theresa Weld married Charles Blanchard (1892-1966), a Harvard graduate, World War I veteran, and prominent Boston publisher, in October 1920.  Although he enjoyed skating recreationally, he encouraged her skating partnership with fellow Bostonian Nathaniel Niles.  

The Boston Globe, March 8, 1922 (l-r) Nathaniel Niles, Theresa Weld Blanchard, Beatrix Loughran (Ladies' Silver Medalist), and Sherwin Badger (Men's Champion)

Nathaniel Niles was also a native of Boston who was an accomplished sportsman in more than one sport.  Even though he won several skating titles including an Olympic bronze medal with Blanchard and national titles in singles (3), pairs (9), and dance (5), Niles was perhaps even better known for his tennis success.  In 2000, he was posthumously inducted into the New England Tennis Hall of Fame.  Niles was an NCAA champion in tennis while enrolled at Harvard and he entered the US Open for 23 consecutive years.  He won the mixed doubles title in 1908 with his partner Edith Rotch.  Ironically, Edith Rotch was also a figure skater.  In 1914 she won a silver medal at the US National Figure Skating Championships in the ladies division.  The gold medal winner?  None other than Theresa Weld, Niles' skating partner.  Rotch and Niles even competed against each other in the pairs competition in 1920 and 1922.  What a small world!  During a time when the seasons played a role in sporting, tennis was the perfect summer sport to complement winter skating.   

Here is a rare short clip of Blanchard and Niles skating together:

Theresa Weld Blanchard (1893-1978) and Nathaniel Niles (1886-1932)

Niles died suddenly at age 46 in 1932.  Just five months earlier he competed with Blanchard at the World Championships in Montreal and they placed 8th in the pairs competition.  At ages 38 and 45, they were certainly one of the oldest pairs to ever compete at that level.  The 1932 World Championships was also Blanchard's last world competition, but she continued to compete domestically in ice dance until she was in her mid-40s. Both Blanchard and Niles were involved with the creation of the United States Figure Skating Association's Skating Magazine in 1923, which was first published out of Blanchard's home.  The magazine continues to this day and has been a key source that documented the changes in the sport.  

Democrat and Chronicle, July 13, 1932.

Skating has been a popular activity for many since skating ponds debuted around the northeast in places like Central Park.  Yet the sport was simultaneously open to the masses and exclusive.  Once skates were mass produced, pond skating was a popular activity and accessible to many, but indoor skating rinks and competitive skating was very exclusive.  Many of the early indoor rinks, such as the St. Nicholas Rink in New York, was built in the 1890s and financed by wealthy Gilded Age families including Ruth & Ogden Mills.  This rink provided Ruth an opportunity to skate in an exclusive setting apart from the masses skating in Central Park.  Indoor rinks provided better ice quality and a longer skating season that wasn't dependent on the weather.  Figure skating clubs, such as Theresa Weld Blanchard's club, the Skating Club of Boston, catered to wealthy Boston families and those who could afford to join. 

Competitive skating in the United States in the 1920s was not only exclusive based on class, but also race.  Mabel Fairbanks (1915-2001), a groundbreaking black skater who started to skate in the late 1920s was not allowed to compete at the Olympics or National qualifying events.  Figure skating was not immune to the racial segregation that was found all over the country during this era. Fairbanks had to fight just to be allowed to skate at many rinks during her career.  Although she did not win titles, she performed in shows across the country including the Ice Capades during the 1930s and 1940s and later turned to coaching.  To learn more about her story, follow this link.      

Mabel Fairbanks displays photos of her performing and coaching career.  Photo: Skate Guard Blog

Due to the huge costs cost of competitive skating at the highest levels, it continues to be a very expensive sport.  Skaters who do not come from a wealthy background face many challenges to fund training, coaching, equipment and competition travel since the sport is not fully state sponsored as it is in some countries such as Russia.  However, wonderful programs like Figure Skating in Harlem and Diversify Ice Fellowship & Foundation work to bring traditionally underrepresented populations more opportunities to skate.  During National Skating Month, the US Figure Skating Association hosts open houses, demonstrations, and free lessons to encourage families will try skating for the first time.  Even if you do not want to skate, it is a great time to view and appreciate skaters past and present in a sport that so artfully combines athleticism, graceful movement, and competition.