Bunk Delivers Lecture on Pioneers of US Women’s Soccer

Brian D. Bunk, senior lecturer in history, spoke about “Two Early Pioneers of Women’s Soccer in the United States” on Sept. 29 at the Central Pennsylvania Consortium Symposium “Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice.”

The event took place at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Bunk spoke about Doris Clark from California and Helen Clark from Connecticut. Although they shared a surname, they were not related. Both served as coaches, administrators and referees in the period 1914-21. The lives of the two Clarks demonstrate broader changes in attitudes toward women in sports, leading to more women and girls participating in soccer, especially in high schools and colleges.

Bunk teaches courses in world history, modern Europe and the history of sport, especially boxing and soccer. He is the author of “Ghosts of Passion: Martyrdom, Gender, and the Origins of the Spanish Civil War.”