Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-312) and index.
Contents:
Wilma's home town win? Race on parade in Clarksville -- "She isn't Colored, she is gold": the politics of race and beauty -- Running with the story: From Cold War icon to Civil Rights rebel -- Examining the autobiographical self: Wilma Rudolph on bookshelves -- Wilma: biopics, nostalgia, and family in the 1970s -- Against all odds: reading Rudolph over four decades of children's literature -- On the margins of memory: the politics of remembering and forgetting Wilma Rudolph through material culture -- Conclusion: to tell the truth.
Summary:
"(Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph explores the major episodes and sites of memory across the track legend's life and death. Analyzing newspaper and magazine accounts, dozens of children's books, and a television movie, among other materials, Liberti and Smith highlight the range of ways meaning was constructed around Rudolph and her accomplishments on the track. Rather than a traditional biography, this book unpacks the collective memories we create and share about the Olympian. A close reading of the stories that are remembered and circulated about Rudolph not only underscore the athlete's agency but simultaneously minimize and even erase the ways in which racism and sexism impacted her life." -- Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.