Wheeling in the Years: A Slice of Brooklyn Bicycle History

To close out National Bicycle Month, here's a little a celebration of bicycling in Brooklyn, from 1897 to the present. 

Even now, in the 21st century, I feel a powerful sense of freedom, exhilaration, and agency whenever I'm riding my bicycle around Brooklyn. It must have been truly extraordinary for women in the 19th century, who were newly admitted to the ranks of "wheel riders" in the 1890s. At the time, Brooklyn was home to a large number of some of the most avid cyclists in the world, and as a result, there was more cycling infrastructure and bike-friendly legislation than we've had even at later (darker) points in Brooklyn history. When "wheelmen" and "wheelwomen" took to the streets for fresh air, recreation, commuting, and exercise, revolution was in the air.

In Evan Friss's The Cycling City: Bicycles & Urban America in the 1890s, the author recounts in detail the debates around permitting women to cycle at that time: eroding moral values, respectability and femininity, un-ladylike behavior, and even the possibility of too much "stimulation," made the list. On the other side of the argument, some physicians pointed out that riding a bicycle was a great way to calm women's "hysteria." While riding, "...her mind [was] taken off those things which have a tendency to perplex and madden." The result was "an uncommonly happy, bright, and exhilarated set of faces which we see spinning down our streets."

The classic (and illustrated!) Bicycling for Ladies by Maria E. Ward, first published in 1896 and reissued just this year, begins with an irrefutable opening argument: "Bicycling is a modern sport, offering infinite variety and opportunity. As an exercise, at present unparalleled, it accomplishes much with comparatively little expenditure of effort; as a relaxation, it has many desirable features; and 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." 

The power of bicycles to open up new worlds remains just as strong today, and if pressed, I will wax as rhapsodic about riding a bike as a Victorian woman in pantaloons.

The selections of choice bicycle-related images included in this post are from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and our digital collections portal. Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at [email protected].