Phyllis Graber, also known as Phyllis Graber Jensen, is a former American tennis player.
Phyllis wanted to play tennis at Jamaica High School, but there was no girls' tennis team there. She requested to be a player on the boys' tennis team, but girls were not allowed in boys' sports under New York City Board of Education rules. [1] [2] [3] Therefore, she filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Ira Glasser worked with her on this matter. [4] In September 1970 Phyllis made her case before the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and in February 1971, the New York City Board of Education voted to allow boys to compete with girls in non-contact sports. The only vote against this was the vote of Mary Meade, the only woman on the Board at the time; Meade was notable as having been the first woman to become principal of any coeducational high school in New York City, when she became principal of Tottenville High School in 1937. Phyllis then joined the tennis team in 1971, becoming the first officially sanctioned female member of a formerly all-male high school varsity tennis team in New York City. [1] [5] [3]
She also played on the women's tennis team at Cornell University. [1]
As of September 1st, 2023, Phyllis was employed by Bates College as their director of photography and video for their communications office. [1]
As of September 1st, 2023, Phyllis was married to a man and lived in Maine. [1]
As noted by the New York Times , the book Radical Play: Revolutionizing Children’s Toys in 1960s and 1970s America (2023) "traces a direct line from the Graber case to the emergence of an androgynously named teenage doll, Dusty, introduced as an anti-Barbie by the Kenner toy company in 1974." A version of the Dusty doll could play tennis. [1] [6]
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.
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The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is the governing body for high school activities throughout the state of Missouri. Approximately 580 high schools are members of MSHSAA.
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"Moroccan Christmas" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office and the show's eighty-third episode overall. The episode aired in the United States on December 11, 2008, on NBC.
Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7-14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, folklore, myths and popular culture, centering around the adventures of the teenage children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending a high school of the same name.
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Marjory Logan Gengler Smith is an American retired tennis player. In 1973, while a student at Princeton University, she was captain of the women's tennis team and led them to an undefeated season in 1972. She was the top ranked player at Princeton, the number one-ranked female player in the Eastern United States, and the first woman to be featured, as "Princeton's Best Athlete", on the cover of Princeton Alumni Weekly. In 1973, inspired by the Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Gengler took on Jeffrey Lewis-Oakes, the top ranked men's junior varsity player, but lost the match. Gengler competed at the US Open in mixed doubles in 1971, 1973, and 1974 and in doubles in 1971, as well as singles in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1971. She also competed at Wimbledon in mixed doubles in 1972. Gengler is married to retired professional tennis player Stan Smith.