Muetze, Madalyn.

Gerry Murray Fan Club . . . [Cover title].

Brooklyn, New York: 1958-1960. 9¾” x 7½”. Commercial composition book, handwritten title note adhered to cover. 27 handwritten pages with 22 news clippings and 2 B&W photographs pasted down + two sleeves containing 11 clippings and 7 items of ephemera laid in; the remaining 59 pages are blank. Very good: a bit shaken, covers lightly edgeworn, reinforced with tape at spine but holding; loss of adhesion to cover note at two corners; small tear to edge of three leaves affecting one clipping but not its text; pages lightly toned with some offsetting from clippings.

This is a charming scrapbook compiled by a junior high school girl who was an avid fan of New York roller derby star Gerry Murray.

Geraldine “Gerry” Murray joined the roller derby circuit as a teenager, three years after the sport was founded in 1935. She gained popularity for her skill (another star skater called her the “best in the business”), her swinging red ponytail and her on-track rivalries and battles with other female skaters. Murray spent most of her career with the New York Chiefs, serving as women's captain for many years. She also ran the Chiefs' training school. She was one of the first American sportswomen to sign an endorsement deal – her branded hair ties and bobby pins were sold at department stores – and one of the first people inducted into the Roller Derby Hall of Fame in 1956. Murray married two of her male colleagues; first Paul Milane, with whom she had a son, Mike, and later Gene Gammon, who served as her coach and teammate and adopted Mike. Mike Gammon (fitted with roller skates at 13 months) joined the league as a teenager in the late 1950s and played with his mother on the Chiefs. He also became one of the sport’s top stars. Gerry retired in 1960 after over two decades on the track and made a comeback in 1975, skating for two more years. She died in 2019.

This album was lovingly made by a New York junior high school student and member of the Gerry Murray Fan Club (“GMFC”), Madalyn Muetze. She laid out its contents in an “Index” at the front, including handwritten “News” and “Results” of the Chiefs and their star, covering the last two years of Murray's (first) derby career. One page was dedicated to “Facts on Gerry” and one shared the workings of the “GMFC.” There were also “Action Photos” and articles, clipped from newspapers, several of which were amended and/or captioned with Madalyn's notes. A few clippings revealed that Ronnie Robinson (the son of boxer Sugar Ray) was Gerry's teammate on the Chiefs. Robinson, the fourth African American to play roller derby professionally, made the All-Star team for more than ten consecutive years, and was twice named Most Valuable Player. The album also contained two professional photographs: a 3½” x 5” group shot of the team (Madalyn identified every player) and a 7” x 5” shot of “The Gammons”: Gerry, Gene and Mike, all in uniform. Laid-in materials include a 1958 ticket stub from a Chiefs match and six handwritten notes of scores, injuries and suspensions – one related when Gerry was “kicked out of game for arguing too much.” The book's final page was decorated with love doodles typical of a junior high school girl, except Madalyn's included “Gerry is a queen,” “We love Gerry” and “Gerry is a living doll.”

A fantastic resource on, and tribute to, an important female roller derby star. Very good. Item #7920

Price: $850.00