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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2018.2.3 |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Maureen Baker Interview (daugher of Mary "Bonnie" Baker) |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Mary "Bonnie" Baker, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 2018, born in Regina, Saskatchewan, is represented in this interview by her daughter Maureen Baker. She provides background on Mary's early life and health in Regina. Mary was the middle child of nine, and after her mother passed away when Mary was nine years old, she played a significant role in raising her younger siblings. Maureen talks about the Second World War's impact on her mother and father's life (her father, in the RCAF, was stationed in London, England) and how she was recruited in 1943 by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Maureen is asked what she believes her mother would have thought her greatest accomplishment was, and Maureen elaborates on Mary's devotion to her family. Mary was aware of her abilities and achievements and was comfortable with the role she played. Maureen is asked about the advice her mother would have given to young female athletes and why she thought it was essential to support women athletes. Maureen acknowledges that Mary's struggles were unique to the time period and that women, and female athletes, face different struggles today. Maureen talks about the pride she feels for her mother and how she believes Mary was brave. She also talks about her pride towards her mother, what her mother would have thought about being inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and how the family appreciates the honour. 2018.2.3, entrevue avec Maureen Baker, MP4 d'origine numérique, temps de visionnement : 09:22:05. Mary " Bonnie " Baker, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du Sport, a été intronisée en 2018 et est née à Regina en Saskatchewan. Elle est représentée dans cette entrevue par sa fille Maureen Baker. Maureen donne un aperçu de l'enfance de Mary à Regina et de sa santé. Mary était la cinquième de neuf enfants et sa mère est décédée quand Mary avait neuf ans. Elle a donc joué un rôle important dans l'éducation de ses jeunes frères et sœurs. Maureen parle de l'influence de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale sur la vie de sa mère et de son père (son père, membre de l'Aviation royale canadienne, était en poste à Londres, en Angleterre) et elle raconte comment sa mère a été recrutée en 1943 par la All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Quand on lui demande ce que sa mère aurait dit si on lui avait demandé de parler de sa plus grande réalisation, Maureen parle du dévouement de sa mère pour sa famille. Mary était consciente des ses aptitudes et de ses accomplissements et elle était à l'aise avec le rôle qu'elle jouait. On demande à Maureen quels conseils sa mère aurait donné à de jeunes athlètes féminines et pourquoi elle pensait qu'il est essentiel d'appuyer les athlètes féminines. Maureen reconnaît que les défis qu'a rencontrés Mary étaient uniques à son époque et que les femmes, ainsi que les athlètes féminines, font aujourd'hui face à différents défis. Maureen parle de la fierté qu'elle éprouve pour sa mère et à quel point sa mère était courageuse. Elle parle également de la fierté ressentie envers l'intronisation de sa mère au Panthéon des sports canadiens, de ce sa mère aurait pensé de cette intronisation et de comment sa famille apprécie l'honneur qui lui est fait. |
Scope & Content |
Maureen Baker interview, 2018, born digital MP4, total viewing time 09:22:05. Maureen Baker, daughter of Mary "Bonnie" Baker, is interviewed as a family representative upon Mary Baker's 2018 induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. 1.Can you tell me about your mother when she was younger, when she started playing baseball, how she got into baseball and if there is anyone who inspired her to start? 00:10.20-01:08.16 Well she started out, I'm going to say on the on the playground at school, she was probably 9 years old. She actually had tuberculosis and so did several other people in her family, her mother died when she was nine of tuberculosis and as far as I know the only really ball she played was at school, or on any field any time she could possibly get there. She worked at the Army and Navy department store for a fellow named Kathy Kaplan was the manager there and he was interested in sports and had started a softball league, so she wound up with a job and also a spot on his team and played with him for several years, probably up until the time that she actually did play baseball, which was in 1943 when she was chosen to play in The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the states. 2.What would you say were the biggest challenges your mother had to face, during her life and particularly in her sports career? 01:17.15-02:32.30 When she was young, she had health challenges of course and it turned out that being she was a middle child, of 9, but several of her siblings had already left home by the time their mother passed away so she found herself pretty much raising the rest of the kids at nine years old. They had a father who worked hard and was I think a very morose, because he had lost his wife so they kind of had to band together. So that was a very tough time for her. She always managed to, I don't want to say look on the bright side, but she did what she had to do, she bucked it up and she did what she had to do and so that was hard for her, and she did have some lung problems and some breathing problems; she had pneumonia a few times over her lifetime, on one time was actually life-threatening, didn't seem to hurt her at all on the ball field, and I know I remember when I was oh probably 9 or 10 years old racing her to the bus stop and she beat me handily, so she, that was that was a struggle for her. I don't really think that she just did what she had to do she never complained about anything and she really didn't tell me a lot of stories about hardships. 3.What impact did the Second World War have on your mother's life, is this a period that she talked about very much? 02:41.05-03:22.14 The Second World War was probably the single most important thing in my mother's life, because in 1939 she was 21 years old and my father joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed in London England. So at 20 she was left behind, as were many women of that generation, but in 1943 she was recruited by The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. So she immediately left the country also to play ball until 1952 so and that was all because of the Second World War, that the league only started because of the Second World War. 4.What would your mother say, or do you think she would say, was her greatest accomplishment? 03:30.10-04:11.15 I wish I would have asked her that question. I would honestly say that my mother would probably say that her biggest accomplishment was having me and having a family. She had four pregnancies and I was the only survivor, so she adored me, and adored my daughter and my son, and now my grandchildren, she had great grandchildren before she passed away and she always was surrounded by family. I don't know, I can't remember a Sunday in my life that we didn't have family for supper or go to some of her brothers and sisters houses for Sunday dinner. 5.In addition to playing baseball your mother was also the first female team manager in professional sport, what qualities did she have that made her such a strong leader and a pioneer in women's sports? 04:23.00-04:53.29 Well she was a strong individual because of her background, she always worked well with people, and people admired and respected her. She was well aware that she is proficient in that profession and she of course knew the sport and knew the rules, and actually knew the people because it was a small league everybody really got to know each other there, so I think she, you know she was, I think she was well qualified and I think she was very comfortable stepping into that role. 6.What advice do you think your mother would give to young female athletes today? 05:03.03-05:17.27 I think she would just tell them to work hard do what they love, don't let anyone compromise what you, your beliefs, and you'll be fine. 7.So after retiring from baseball your mother continued to support women's sports in Saskatchewan, why did she think it was so important to support women athletes? 05:27.27-05:53.15 Well, in those days and of course I'm assuming that this is what how she felt I don't think I ever really heard her speak of it, but I know that she was concerned about all the money going into men's sports, most of the interest was in men's sports and she saw that and acknowledged that when she was playing ball in the states, and I think she wanted to give back, she wanted, and she wanted to work with women. 8.Your mother was definitely a role model for future generations of women athletes. What do you think that women today can still learn from your mother's story? 06:07.05-07:09.03 Well I don't even, I'm not sure, it's been so many years since she played in the sport and things are so different now for women than they were then. I have to say that she really did not struggle because her situation was unique in that they were the only game in town, they were the only women's baseball league in the world, and so really there was not a lot of competition there, and I just think it's so different now. I'm not sure other than her, you know, her bravery even going down there is something that people should take note of. These girls in the in the thirties and forties were pretty much homebound you didn't get out of your city, you didn't probably even have a radio in your home a lot of them, and she was a poor kid from East end Regina, so even just stepping out of the city and stepping out of her comfort zone was a huge thing, and I think that is something that you know we should all remember to step out of your comfort zone and good things could happen. 9.So what lessons or messages did your mother share with you, either about sports or just about life that you found helpful? 07:17.10-07:42.25 Well she said, she didn't really speak to me, she didn't really tell me what to do let's put it that way. But we lived it, we lived it together. I watched her, I learned from her, she had - she was very principled, and the biggest thing that I did learn from my mother, that she did say to me was "don't tell lies" and I think that in today, I think that is such an important lesson to learn. 10.When you think back about your mother, about her legacy in sports, what are you most proud of? 07:56.10-08:30.25 Well I'm proud that she, I'm proud that she had the courage and the strength to do what she loved, and go to a different land to do it in, seems kind of strange to say that now but the United States has a long ways away, in those days, for a girl from the Prairies, and I have to give credit to, you know every one of those women in that league, I'm sure a lot of them had trouble getting there doing, what they needed to do to get there, and she's brave. She's brave. 11.What does your mother's induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame mean to you and to your family? 08:37.22-09:22.05 Well its Canada's highest sporting honor, it's amazing I have to say that it was nothing that I ever thought would happen, and I know she would never have thought it would happen because she was just a girl who played ball in the States for a few years, many many years ago. It's overwhelming, it's overwhelming to all of us my whole family is so happy, when Bob phoned and told me about the, that she was going to be inducted, I couldn't speak. I was choked up and I could not speak and I'm going to be doing that again. So it's, well it's Canada's highest honor that's all I can say. We appreciate it. |
Date |
2018/ / |
People |
Baker, Mary Baker, Maureen |
Search Terms |
baseball women in sport All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) AAGPBL Mary Baker Interview Mary "Bonnie" Baker Athlete WWII |