No. 817 Whitney Childers, 2013

File — Box: 75, Folder: 11

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Tulsa-born Whitney Childers graduated from Oklahoma State University with a wildlife biology major and journalism minor, spent a little time in Eastern Europe, and got into environmental work and journalism before moving to Utah. Hired on at Bill Kerig’s Wasatch Journal in 2008, she was introduced to women’s ski jumping with an article she wrote and, after the magazine ended in 2009, moved into communications and technical work for the women’s ski jumpers in Park City. She worked with Bill Kerig on the film Ready to Fly and, with Kerig and others, created the athletic crowdfunding site RallyMe, released in fall 2012. Whitney talks about the ski jumpers, their struggle for equality at the Olympics and in other major events, and their uneasy relationship with conventional feminism. She also discusses several pivotal moments in the ski jumpers’ push for inclusion in the Olympics such as their getting into the Continental Cup and international events, and their successful suit of the Vancouver Organizing Commission in 2008.
Project: Outdoor Recreation oral history project.
Interviewer: Erin Halcomb

Dates

2013

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.