Eleanor Egg
Eleanor Marie (Egg) Kratiger (1909-1999), known as Eleanor Egg,was an award-winning track and field athlete.
She began her track and field career with the Paterson Girls’ Recreation Program in 1923. Her relay team achieved an outdoor world record in 1925. Egg went on to compete in the broad jump, setting a world record in 1927, the 100-yard dash, and the shot put. She was a heroine in Paterson, where a bronze bas relief of her by sculptor Gaetano Federici stands in the city’s Hinchcliffe Stadium.
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References:
Burstyn, Joan N. “Eleanor Egg”. In Past and Promise, Lives of New Jersey Women. 1990. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54794990.
Questions to Explore
What caused Eleanor to join the Paterson Girls’ Recreation Program? How did that start her career in track and field?
What was the record Egg set in 1927 for the broad jump, 100-yard dash, and the shot put? Has anyone beat these records yet?
What does the bronze bas relief sculpture represent to the people in the community?
Additional Resources
Uminowicz, G. “Eleanor Egg: Paterson’s Track And Field Heroine (Abstract). J. Thomas Jable.” Journal of Sport History 13 (1986): 63–63.
Tricard, Louise Mead. American Women’s Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980. United Kingdom: McFarland & Company, 1996.