Two baseball bats, crossed behind a ball, are engraved in the marble headstone memorializing the life of Mabel Bernice Holle [9]. The Waverly East Cemetery, occupying a verdant expanse of countryside just off Route 104, is less than a half hour drive Mabel’s hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois [6, 9, 10]. Born on March 21, 1920 to Frederick Arnt Holle and his wife, Kathryn Ollie Ebrecht, Mabel was the second of five children born to the couple [5, 9]. Her father, who had once been a semi-professional pitcher, instilled his love of athletics in his children [6]. Mabel developed a strong throwing arm playing with boys on local teams, and was even was picked to play on the boys football team in her freshman and sophomore years in high school [11, 12]. Mabel was a natural pick for president of the Girls’ Athletic Association during her senior year at Newton Bateman Memorial High School in 1938 [11].
By 1942, Mabel had earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from MacMurray College in Jacksonville [12]. As Mabel was moving forward in her career, minor league baseball teams across the nation were disbanding; the country’s men were off to war. Fearing the major leagues would soon suffer a similar fate, chewing gum mogul and owner of the Chicago Cubs, Philip K. Wrigley created a committee to search for a solution. Little did she know, Mabel Holle would be a part of the answer to Wrigley’s problem. The committee sent scouts into dozens of major cities, searching for talented, athletic women to fill the vacant parks [2]. While Mabel was studying at MacMurray, her friend, Shirley Jameson, submitted her name for final tryouts at Wrigley Field [6]. Of 280 women who were invited, sixty were selected to become the first U.S. women to ever play professional baseball. Mabel made the cut [2].
Spring training started in Chicago in May of 1943, when Mabel was 23 years old [2,3]. The women stayed at the Belmont Hotel near Wrigley Field, and when they weren’t on the field, they were attending charm school classes led by Helena Rubenstein. Mr. Wrigley felt that maintaining a sense of femininity was key, and had the women instructed in etiquette, hygiene, mannerisms, and set a strict dress code. The one-piece, short-skirted, flared tunic uniforms were modeled after figure skating, field hockey, and tennis costumes of the period [2]. The women were paid handsomely for their hard work, typically earning $45 to 85 per week (about $650-1200 in 2018 dollars) [2,4]. During the 1943-1944 season, Mabel played third base and outfield for the Kenosha Comets of Wisconsin, and the South Bend Blue Sox of central Indiana [5,12]. Mabel would later reminisce that the highlight of her career was hitting the game-winning hit while her mother and two younger sisters watched from the stands [12].
Unfortunately, the league did not renew Mabel’s contract at the beginning of the 1944 season. She tried out with the rookies, but this time around, she was not selected. She signed a contract with the rival National Girls Baseball League in Chicago, where she played for the next two seasons, before she decided to leave professional baseball to continue her education [6,13]. Mabel went on to earn her master’s degree in physical education from MacMurray College, and taught at schools in Waukegan, Illinois for over forty years. She also coached girls’ softball, basketball, track and field, and volleyball teams. Before Title IX legislation was passed in 1972 to encourage equality in school athletic programs, Mabel was instrumental in helping get girls involved in sports [7, 8,12].
On November 5, 1988, Mabel was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, when an exhibit was opened to honor the women who played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In 1993, Mabel was inducted into her alma mater’s sports Hall of Fame. MacMurray College now awards an annual scholarship in Mabel’s name to a female athlete who shows strength on and off of the field [5]. And while she was not featured in the film, in 1992, a fictionalized account of the AAGPBL’s inaugural season, A League of Their Own, was released. Many of the game scenes of the film were shot at Bosse Field in this author’s hometown of Evansville, Indiana [1]. Mabel reportedly thought the movie was “pretty good” [13].
Mabel succumbed to colon cancer on December 11, 2011 at her home in Lake Forest, Illinois. She was 91 years old. She left her longtime partner, Linda Hoffman, as well as several nieces and nephews [5].
How Are We Related?
Sources
- “A League of Their Own.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_League_of_Their_Own.
- “All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.” League History, http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/pages/league/12/league-history.
- “Illinois Girls Signed For Softball League.” Freeport Journal-Standard 26 Apr. 1943: Page 7. com. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
- “Inflation Rate between 1943-2018 | Inflation Calculator.” 1943 Dollars in 2018 | Inflation Calculator, http://www.in2013dollars.com/1943-dollars-in-2018.
- “Mabel B. Holle.” Jacksonville Journal-Courier 13 Dec. 2011. com. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
- “Mabel Holle.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Holle.
- “Three Teachers Resign at Casey High School.” The Decatur Herald 6 Aug. 1946: Page 12. com. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
- “Title IX Frequently Asked Questions.” org – The Official Site of the NCAA, 27 Jan. 2014, http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions#title.
- Find A Grave <www.findagrave.com>, Record of Mabel B. Holle, created by: Shirley, record added: Aug 09, 2014, Find A Grave Memorial #134083625. [Birth: Mar. 21, 1920; Death: 11, 2011; Burial: Waverly East Cemetery, Waverly, Morgan County, Illinois, USA]
- Google Maps, Google, http://www.google.com/maps.
- Newton Bateman Memorial High School. The Crimson J, 1938. Jacksonville: Graduating Class of 1938. Web. Ancestry.com.
- Tobacman, Jessica. “Longtime PE teacher led way in girls sports.” Chicago Tribune 15 Dec. 2011. com. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
- Zalusky, Steve. “’League of Their Own’ Athlete Dies in Lake Forest.” Daily Herald, 19 Dec. 2011, http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20111218/news/712189846/.
Rogers & Jones 
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