"Strenuous Life" Strained: Political and Social Survival Strategies of the New Orleans Athletic Club, 1923-1940

• Main Author: Ryder, Shawn G.
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2011
• Subjects: New Orleans; Strenuous Life; Boxing; Sports; NOAC; Great Depression; Women; Elite Clubs; Gymnastic
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/132; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=td

The New Orleans Athletic Club, founded in 1872, is one of the oldest athletic clubs in the United States that still operates today. After the boom of the 1920s and increased revenues, the club was forced to confront the Great Depression and shift its emphasis on the "strenuous life" to the "social life" to survive. The club had capitalized on the popularity of boxing during the 1920s and just finished constructing a lavish new club house when the stock market crashed in 1929. With members losing their jobs, the popularity of boxing waning, and the club in dire financial straits, the club looked for alternative strategies to survive. Its "social life" strategy relied on the club's various political ties to cut expenses and increased incentives for membership, which led to a larger, albeit, limited presence of women at the club.