A young Italian immigrant named Clementina Brida immigrated to the United States of America when she was a very young girl. For reasons unknown, but perhaps as a way to Americanize her name was changed to Maud Nelson, commonly misspelled as Maude Nielson. She loved baseball which was how she met her first husband John B. Olson, Jr.. They married in 1911 and started the Western Bloomer Girls team together (Gregorich 9). Maud spent most of her time traveling between cities but seemed to continuously return to either Boston, MA or Chicago, IL. Six years later her first husband John B. Olson, Jr. passed away, at which point she took up touring again with the Boston Bloomer Girls and managed the Chicago Athletic Club women’s team.
Come 1922 at age 41 Maud Nelson retired from playing at the beginning of baseballs Golden Age; though she would make guest pitching appearances for years to come. That year she met and married Constante Dellacqua, and in the ensuing years raised her stepson Joe Dellacqua in addition to running the All Star Ranger Girls with her second husband. One could imagine the prosperity that they had in the 1920’s during America’s jazz era known as the age of fun (Zeiler 10/04/16). Though we do also have to keep in mind that this was still the time period when Kennesaw Mountain Landis was commissioner of baseball who tended to keep to traditional American values and who may not have seen women playing baseball as appropriate. Maud was described by the people who knew her as a serious ball player and serious recruiter, always warning, “no fake attractions” (Cohen 36). Maud was definitely a product of the progressive era, women having just gained the right to vote, Maud set an excellent example of just what a woman could do; play ball, scout for her teams and others teams, in addition to managing and coaching. Unfortunately very little is known about what she did with her time outside of baseball.
Being based in Boston for a good portion of her life, she doubtlessly made it to Fenway Park at some point, whether to see a game or perhaps play there. In her life she witnessed the the beginning of radio sportscasting and heard of Charles Lindbergh’s epic flight to Paris. It’s probable to say that these things that happened during her lifetime would have had a large impact and given her a sense of anything being possible. She certainly pioneered and set the example for many women who came after her.
Maud continued to manage teams until somewhere in the 1930’s when the depression made it impossible to keep a barnstorming team going. One wonders what her thoughts were in 1935 when she heard of the first night game being played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, OH or what she made of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin under Hitler’s reign. Did she mourn Lou Gehrig’s death in 1940? How closely might she have followed the mens professional teams? Did she follow and support the negro teams? My wager would be that she followed all of it rather closely. From what we know of her, she lived, breathed, and drank baseball.
Maud Nelson passed away in 1944, in Chicago, IL, supposedly just a pitchers throw away from Wrigley field. In 2001 she was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
Come 1922 at age 41 Maud Nelson retired from playing at the beginning of baseballs Golden Age; though she would make guest pitching appearances for years to come. That year she met and married Constante Dellacqua, and in the ensuing years raised her stepson Joe Dellacqua in addition to running the All Star Ranger Girls with her second husband. One could imagine the prosperity that they had in the 1920’s during America’s jazz era known as the age of fun (Zeiler 10/04/16). Though we do also have to keep in mind that this was still the time period when Kennesaw Mountain Landis was commissioner of baseball who tended to keep to traditional American values and who may not have seen women playing baseball as appropriate. Maud was described by the people who knew her as a serious ball player and serious recruiter, always warning, “no fake attractions” (Cohen 36). Maud was definitely a product of the progressive era, women having just gained the right to vote, Maud set an excellent example of just what a woman could do; play ball, scout for her teams and others teams, in addition to managing and coaching. Unfortunately very little is known about what she did with her time outside of baseball.
Being based in Boston for a good portion of her life, she doubtlessly made it to Fenway Park at some point, whether to see a game or perhaps play there. In her life she witnessed the the beginning of radio sportscasting and heard of Charles Lindbergh’s epic flight to Paris. It’s probable to say that these things that happened during her lifetime would have had a large impact and given her a sense of anything being possible. She certainly pioneered and set the example for many women who came after her.
Maud continued to manage teams until somewhere in the 1930’s when the depression made it impossible to keep a barnstorming team going. One wonders what her thoughts were in 1935 when she heard of the first night game being played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, OH or what she made of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin under Hitler’s reign. Did she mourn Lou Gehrig’s death in 1940? How closely might she have followed the mens professional teams? Did she follow and support the negro teams? My wager would be that she followed all of it rather closely. From what we know of her, she lived, breathed, and drank baseball.
Maud Nelson passed away in 1944, in Chicago, IL, supposedly just a pitchers throw away from Wrigley field. In 2001 she was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.