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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
21-114
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
October 6, 2015
To honor and recognize the 1927 George Washington University Women’s Rifle Team as the greatest collegiate rifle team in United States history.
WHEREAS, the George Washington University’s 1927 Women’s Rifle Team scored the highest collegiate score in Women’s Rifle Marksmanship in the history of women’s marksmanship competition;
WHEREAS, the 10 women were all, but one, students of the District of Columbia’s Central High School, today’s Cardozo High School, learning to shoot in high school and then each matriculating to George Washington University in the early 1920s;
WHEREAS, Eugenia Cuvillier, Marjorie Folsom, Mae Huntzberger, Suzanne Jamison, Katherine Shoemaker, Helen Taylor, Helen Prentiss, Betty Clark, Suzanne Aud, and Verna Parsons comprised the George Washington University team;
WHEREAS, the team won 6 intercollegiate championships between 1924 and 1930 and won the 1927 championships with an astounding score of 2991 out of a maximum score of 3000, and this score still stands today as the highest score ever performed by women collegiate marksmen;
WHEREAS, the George Washington University rifle team continued to dominate the sport through the 1950s;
WHEREAS, the George Washington University coach, Walter R. Stokes, who was an Olympic Gold Medalist in marksmanship, was an early feminist who believed that women were equal to men in all areas of academics and sports and advocated for women’s equality and equal opportunities from the 1920s through the 1960s;
WHEREAS, the George Washington University Rifle Team overcame prejudice against women’s sports and helped to inspire activism by women during the 1920s, the Suffragist Movement, and demands of women’s equality;
WHEREAS, these District of Columbia residents and public school students were the precursors of women entering the military and proving they could compete with the best of men; and
WHEREAS, the George Washington University’s 1927 National Champion Rifle Team will finally get its recognition by being inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “1927 GWU Women’s Rifle Team Recognition Resolution of 2015”.
Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia is proud to honor the 1927 George Washington University Women’s Rifle Team as the greatest collegiate rifle team in United States history.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
