Anne Goldstein: Putting the Lie in Chicago to the Unathletic Jewish Female

Anne Goldstein was a mainstay in Chicago women’s amateur sports during the Depression and war years, competing on the highest amateur levels in basketball and softball. In principle, these are sports open to anyone with a ball and a dream, but sometimes—too often—society erects barriers to suppress the participation of members of certain groups (in America, notably, Jews, Catholics, African Americans and women), who are made to seem unworthy to play mainstream sports. According to widespread stereotypes in her era, Anne Goldstein, as both a Jew and a woman, was not expected to be an athlete, let alone a highly accomplished one. Within her community, women were expected to be mothers, not athletes, and outside it Jews were deemed physically weak and unathletic. But there were progressive elements within the Jewish community that saw women athletes as a positive force in Jewish life and promoted the athletic achievements of Goldstein and her teammates.