WIMA USA's Louise Scherbyn

LOUISE MENZER SCHERBYN

1966 Letters to the FIM
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LOUISE MENZER SCHERBYN

MOTORCYCLE PIONEER AND AMBASSADOR

WIMA FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT

Please accept this amendment to the
2003 nomination of Louise Menzer Scherbyn
to the AMA’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Historic materials have become available
which provide further evidence of her
significant contributions and lifelong work
in promoting women in motorcycling.

At the "All Girl Show," Waterloo, New York (1941)

1. Letters from Ms Scherbyn to Major David Goode, Secretary-General of the FIM

See the letters: 12 Apr 1966 (pg1) 12 Apr 1966 (pg2), 17 June 1966, 7 Nov 1966
*Note to dial-up users: image files are about 260k

In April of 1966, Ms Louise Scherbyn wrote a letter to the then Secretary-General of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) inquiring about two things: formal affiliation of the Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA), of which Ms Scherbyn was President, and the lifting of an apparent ban on women holding international racing licenses. This letter was followed up by missives written by Ms Scherbyn to Major Goode in the following June and November.

It appears that Ms Scherbyn received a reply from Major Goode in June, 1966, but judging from her letter of June 17, she did not receive satisfactory answers from the Secretary-General to her inquiries. Not to be put off, Ms Scherbyn devoted her autumn WIMA newsletter to women in racing, in the hope of providing documented basis to Major Goode for accepting women into the sport. Her follow up letter of November 7 indicates that she received no further response from Major Goode regarding either WIMA affiliation or women’s racing licenses.

Discussion

In the 1960’s, the standing assumption was that motorcycling was a man’s sport. This was evident in that publications and rulebooks made no mention one way or the other of women, and at the same time were universally written in language referring to the male rider. By petitioning the FIM to specifically allow women to participate in racing, Ms Scherbyn was trying to effect a culture change from unwritten taboo to universal acceptance.

The main problem was that the idea of a woman being injured or killed in a crash during a competition was not acceptable, not even tolerable. The conscience of practicing a dangerous sport was widely known and accepted – but for men – supposed to be crazy, temerarious or strong enough to take such risks… So, a woman was not supposed to "do things like that…"
– Marc Pétrier, FIM¹

The FIM Central Board was split on its view of women in competition. Some considered it appropriate for women to compete, while others, such as FIM Vice President Count Lurani, did not.²

From Ms Scherbyn’s letters, it is possible to conclude that WIMA needed affiliation to hold events, and women wanted to compete. There was, unfortunately, no concrete resolution to her inquiries. There was no record of policy on women’s racing licenses by the FIM. Additionally, we believe that WIMA was not granted FIM affiliation at that point in time. Major Goode’s apparent silence in response to Ms Scherbyn’s request typified the era’s general invisibility of women in sport.

One of the difficulties in documenting women’s contributions to motorcycling –and to history in general– is that often women have not been written into history and record books by male historians and have thereby been rendered invisible. They’re just not on the radar. Furthermore, culture changes often occur incrementally in response to constant pressures for change, as opposed to being discrete, newsworthy events. In reality, women’s contributions in that era of motorcycling were largely behind the scenes. Women worked diligently to educate and persuade, pushing bit by bit toward their goals of equal participation.

It is certain that Ms Scherbyn’s efforts had an impact on FIM decision makers as a whole, because women were competing in FIM events again by the early 1970’s.³ By doggedly working against popular notions of women in the sport of motorcycling, Ms Scherbyn was a vital cog in the movement toward women in competition and in the sport in general. According to WIMA world traveler, Linda Bootherstone, "[Ms Scherbyn] was a strong character who…spent a lifetime realizing her dream of uniting women enthusiasts in many countries."⁴ Eventually, opinions changed, and we must give credit to Ms Scherbyn, and others, whose determined efforts made change happen.

2. Updates to nomination

Please see the following updates to the original nomination, in boldface:

(Nomination page 2, ¶4) Louise was an active member of the Motor Maids during the organization’s early years, and she served as New York State Director during the 1940’s.

(P.3, ¶2) Today, the WIMA created by Louise Scherbyn remains the only motorcycle organization that is international in its charter, constitution and membership, and which has no constraints on member age or brand ownership. It is the largest international organization for women motorcyclists, with a membership of 2,500 in nineteen different countries.

(P.3, ¶2) WIMA is currently working on a large-scale project to help child prostitutes get off the streets of India and into self-sufficient, healthy environments. To date, the India Street Kid Project has raised over $40,000, and recently opened and funded a shelter in Mumbai, India.

3. Acknowledgements

We are sincerely grateful to M. Guy Maitre, Directeur Général of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), for making us aware of Ms Scherbyn’s letters to the FIM and for generously providing the originals.

We are also thankful to M. Marc Pétrier, Attaché de Presse FIM, for providing historical insight into the FIM and women’s competition.