Furthering Maria Ward’s Work to Expand Access to Bikes
More than 110 years before the Boise Bicycle Project existed, a woman named Maria Ward witnessed the proliferation of bicycles near the end of the 19th century and began working hard on a mission similar to our own to make bikes more accessible. She wanted to drastically upset social norms and gendered expectations of the day and begin advertising the benefits of owning a bike to women.
In 1896, the same year Susan B. Anthony and other leaders of the women’s suffrage movement were publicly celebrating bikes as a tool for mobilizing women and offering increased self-reliance, Ward published her book Bicycling for Ladies – a comprehensive guide to bike ownership detailing everything from how to choose a bike out to how individual components like wheels, spokes, and gears work.
In an often quoted interview for New York World, Anthony called bikes a crucial tool for the emancipation of women.
“I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world,” Anthony said to journalist Nellie Bly. “It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. It makes her feel as if she is independent. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bike and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
If bikes were going to be a tool for independence however, Ward knew access to knowledge about bicycles and maintenance were the only way an individual could be truly independent.
“Its limitless possibilities, its future of usefulness, and the effect of its application to modern economic and social conditions present a wide field for speculation,” Ward wrote. “Bicycling possesses many advantages and is within the reach of nearly all.”
We can’t agree more with every part of that quote and that is why the Boise Bicycle Project has made it its mission to expand access to bikes, tools, and the education needed to keep them rolling.
Like Ward and Anthony, we know the bike is an incredible tool not just for building a better community but for empowering individuals and this March, for Women’s History Month, we want to challenge you to help further Ward’s work.
Use this month to help another learn an empowering new skill. Join our volunteer program to teach bike repairs to kids or to help our work trade program at our shop where we assist individuals who can’t afford needed repairs at other bike shops to get rolling again.
Share the word about our free mechanic classes such as our women only FEM Class held once a month or our volunteer mechanic class launching in April where we will cover basic bike repairs and how to teach them to others.
Join us in working towards our vision of making Boise a place where everyone can experience the freedom and countless opportunities a bicycle can create.
