Steven A Riess
Biographic Data
| ID | 5364714 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Steven A Riess |
| GIVEN NAMES | Steven A |
| FAMILY NAME | Riess |
| SIGNATURE | RIESS S A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northeastern Illinois University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 37 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Thoroughbred Nation
Cracks in the Outfield Wall
NASSH and the Evolution of Sport History in North America
This essay examines the evolution of sport history, once a disdained subject among scholars, into a vital and respectable topic of inquiry, focusing on the North American Society for Sport History's (NASSH) fifty-year effort to achieve that status. Until the 1970s, historians neglected sport history, considering it unworthy of their attention because it was a frivolous topic that did not foster valuable knowledge or explain vital historical issue…
Sports Betting and Bookmaking
Book Review| April 01 2018 Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An America History Lang, Arne. Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An America History. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. Pp. xi+293. Index, endnotes, bibliography, and glossary. $38.00, hb. Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University (Emeritus) Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Sport History (2018) 45 (1): 116–117. https://doi.org/10…
Bloomer Girls
Debra A. Shattuck has spent three decades studying the participation of girls and women in baseball, producing the most thorough study of women's participation in the sport during the nineteenth century. In her much-awaited study she argues that baseball evolved from a gender-neutral child's game and demonstrates that playing baseball was not exclusively a male activity since girls and women “actively (although not always consciously) resisted th…
I Wore Babe Ruth’s Hat
The Cyclical History of Horse Racing
Horse racing was an elite American sport that dated to the colonial era. It was the nation's most important antebellum spectator sport, but concerns about its aristocratic connotations and ties to gambling, and also the impact of the Depression of 1837, hindered the sport in the North. Thoroughbred racing revived in the North following the Civil War, propelled by elite jockey clubs that operated the most prestigious racetracks. Their success led …
The Kentucky Derby
James C. Nicholson grew up in the horse-racing industry and was born to write the history of the Kentucky Derby, the preeminent American event for three-year-old Thoroughbreds that annually draws more than 150,000 people to Churchill Downs for a two-week festival and the race. The book is based on his dissertation at the University of Kentucky. Nicholson argues that the derby is unique because of its association with the myths and romantic symbol…
Baseball in the Garden of Eden
John Thorn, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011, xvi+365 pp, index, $26 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7432-9403-4 Author John Thorn is the official historian of major league baseball and has written or edited o
Live All You Can
Journal Article Live All You Can: Alexander Joy Cartwright and the Invention of Modern Baseball. By Jay Martin and Alexander Cartwright: The Life behind the Baseball Legend. By Monica Nucciarone Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 97, Issue 3, December 2010, Pages 814–815, https://…
I Am Not a Baseball Historian
When I started studying the history of sport in 1970 there were less than a handful of other historians other than physical educators in the field. Sport was widely considered a flippant subject (but not at the University of Chicago). My dissertation and my first book examined the myths and realities of professional baseball during the Progressive Era to evaluate how the sport influenced, and at the same time reflected American society. The liber…
I Am Not a Baseball Historian
When I started studying the history of sport in 1970 there were less than a handful of other historians other than physical educators in the field. Sport was widely considered a flippant subject (but not at the University of Chicago). My dissertation and my first book examined the myths and realities of professional baseball during the Progressive Era to evaluate how the sport influenced, and at the same time reflected American society. The liber…
The Sunday Game
Journal Article The Sunday Game: At the Dawn of Professional Football. by Keith McClellan. Akron: University of Akron Press, 1998 and Sports and the American Jew. Ed. by Steven A. Riess. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1998 Get access Lawrence E. Ziewacz Lawrence E. Ziewacz Michigan State University, East Lansingy Michigan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 86, Issue 3…
Historical Perspectives on Sport and Public Policy
Games Colleges Play
Journal Article Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics. By John R. Thelin. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. xx, 252 pp. $34.95, ISBN 0-80184716-8.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 82, Issue 2, September 1995, Pages 803–804, https:/…
The Historiography of American Sport
The Historiography of American Sport Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess is Professor of History at Northeastern Illinois University. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Sport History and is the author of City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports and Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Goog…
The Babe
Journal Article The Babe. Prod. by John Fusco. Directed by Arthur Hillet. Universal Pictures, 1992. 2 hrs., 35 mins Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 79, Issue 3, December 1992, Pages 1277–1278, https://doi.org/10.2307/2080969 Published: 01 December 1992
The Sidewalks of St. Louis
Journal Article The Sidewalks of St. Louis: Places, People, and Politics in an American City. By George Lipsitz. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1991. x + 142 pp. $16.95, ISBN 0-8262-0814-2.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 79, Issue 3, December 1992, Pages 1126–1127, https://doi.org/10.…
City Games
Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity
(1991). Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity. The International Journal of the History of Sport: Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 5-27
City Games
The Old College Try
The New Sport History
The first major scholarly article on American sport history was written in 1917, followed twelve years later by John A. Krout's Annals of American Sport. Succeeding generations of historians neglected this subject not only because of other important topics to research, but also intellectual snobbery, career concerns, or a conviction that detailed analysis of sport would not foster new knowledge or explain important historical questions. An upsurg…
City Games
Journal Article City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports. By Steven A. Riess. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989. xiv + 332 pp. $29.95.) Get access Daniel Czitrom Daniel Czitrom Mount Holyoke College Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 77, Issue 3, December 1990, Pages 1045–1046, https://doi.org/10.2307/2079079 Published: 01 Decembe…
Mapping Modern Sport
Touching Base
Journal Article Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era. By Steven A. Riess. (Westport: Greenwood, 1980. xv + 268 pp. Maps, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $22.95.) Get access Guy M. Lewis Guy M. Lewis University of Massachusetts Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 68, Issue 2, September 1981, Pages 404–405, https://…
Jack Dempsey
Journal Article Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler. By Randy Roberts. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. 310 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. $14.95.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 67, Issue 2, September 1980, Pages 440–441, https://doi.org/10.2307/1890481 Pub…
City Games
The New Sport History
The first major scholarly article on American sport history was written in 1917, followed twelve years later by John A. Krout's Annals of American Sport. Succeeding generations of historians neglected this subject not only because of other important topics to research, but also intellectual snobbery, career concerns, or a conviction that detailed analysis of sport would not foster new knowledge or explain important historical questions. An upsurg…
The Cyclical History of Horse Racing
Horse racing was an elite American sport that dated to the colonial era. It was the nation's most important antebellum spectator sport, but concerns about its aristocratic connotations and ties to gambling, and also the impact of the Depression of 1837, hindered the sport in the North. Thoroughbred racing revived in the North following the Civil War, propelled by elite jockey clubs that operated the most prestigious racetracks. Their success led …
Sandlot Seasons
Journal Article Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh. By Rob Ruck. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. xiii + 238 pp. $21.95.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 75, Issue 3, December 1988, Pages 1005–1006, https://doi.org/10.2307/1901695 Published: 01 December 1988
Historical Perspectives on Sport and Public Policy
Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity
(1991). Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity. The International Journal of the History of Sport: Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 5-27
Baseball in the Garden of Eden
John Thorn, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011, xvi+365 pp, index, $26 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7432-9403-4 Author John Thorn is the official historian of major league baseball and has written or edited o
I Am Not a Baseball Historian
When I started studying the history of sport in 1970 there were less than a handful of other historians other than physical educators in the field. Sport was widely considered a flippant subject (but not at the University of Chicago). My dissertation and my first book examined the myths and realities of professional baseball during the Progressive Era to evaluate how the sport influenced, and at the same time reflected American society. The liber…
The Old College Try
Only the ring was square
(1988). Only the ring was square: frankie carbo and the underworld control of American boxing. The International Journal of the History of Sport: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 29-52
Professional Baseball and Social Mobility
Professional Baseball and Social Mobility Professional sports in America, along with the church, crime, entertainment, and politics have long been regarded as valuable alternate avenues of upward mobility for poor and uneducated, but talented and ambitious young men. Contemporaries and historians have both assumed that sport was an area of American life where youths made it on their own, regardless of social background. Unfortunately, historians …
Boston Red Sox
Journal Article Boston Red Sox: 75th Anniversary History, 1901–1975. By Ellery H. Clark, Jr. (Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition, 1975. 168 pp. Illustrations and tables. $7.50.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess University of Michigan, Dearborn Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 63, Issue 2, September 1976, Page 441, https://doi.org/10.2307/1899712 Published: 01 Septembe…
Sport and the American Dream
Sport and the American Dream: A Review Essay Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Social History, Volume 14, Issue 2, Winter 1980, Pages 295–303, https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh/14.2.295 Published: 01 December 1980
Jack Dempsey
Journal Article Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler. By Randy Roberts. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. 310 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. $14.95.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 67, Issue 2, September 1980, Pages 440–441, https://doi.org/10.2307/1890481 Pub…
Professional Baseball and Social Mobility
Professional Baseball and Social Mobility Professional sports in America, along with the church, crime, entertainment, and politics have long been regarded as valuable alternate avenues of upward mobility for poor and uneducated, but talented and ambitious young men. Contemporaries and historians have both assumed that sport was an area of American life where youths made it on their own, regardless of social background. Unfortunately, historians …
Touching Base
Journal Article Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era. By Steven A. Riess. (Westport: Greenwood, 1980. xv + 268 pp. Maps, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $22.95.) Get access Guy M. Lewis Guy M. Lewis University of Massachusetts Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 68, Issue 2, September 1981, Pages 404–405, https://…
Baseball Myths and American Realities
Ban Johnson
Journal Article Ban Johnson: Czar of Baseball. By Eugene C. Murdock. (Westport: Greenwood, 1982. xii + 294 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliographical essay, and index. $29.95.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 70, Issue 2, September 1983, Page 442, https://doi.org/10.2307/1900272 Published: 01 Sept…
The Impact of Poverty and Progress on the Generation of Historians Trained in the Late 1960s and Early 1970s
In an era of extreme specialization among American historians, it is rare for a monograph to have had the major impact of Poverty and Progress . While there have been previous studies of social mobility, American ethnic groups, and urban communities, Thernstrom’s study was pathbreaking in his use of research techniques and interpretation, and it established a major agenda for the “New Social History.” The questions he raised and his success in wr…
The Impact of "Poverty and Progress" on the Generation of Historians Trained in the Late 1960s and Early 1970s
Joe DiMaggio
Journal Article Joe DiMaggio: A Bio-Bibliography. By Jack B. Moore. (Westport: Grenwood, 1986. xi + 272 pp. $35.00.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 73, Issue 4, March 1987, Pages 1099–1100, https://doi.org/10.2307/1904175 Published: 01 March 1987
Only the ring was square
(1988). Only the ring was square: frankie carbo and the underworld control of American boxing. The International Journal of the History of Sport: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 29-52
Sandlot Seasons
Journal Article Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh. By Rob Ruck. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. xiii + 238 pp. $21.95.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 75, Issue 3, December 1988, Pages 1005–1006, https://doi.org/10.2307/1901695 Published: 01 December 1988
The New Sport History
The first major scholarly article on American sport history was written in 1917, followed twelve years later by John A. Krout's Annals of American Sport. Succeeding generations of historians neglected this subject not only because of other important topics to research, but also intellectual snobbery, career concerns, or a conviction that detailed analysis of sport would not foster new knowledge or explain important historical questions. An upsurg…
City Games
Journal Article City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports. By Steven A. Riess. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989. xiv + 332 pp. $29.95.) Get access Daniel Czitrom Daniel Czitrom Mount Holyoke College Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 77, Issue 3, December 1990, Pages 1045–1046, https://doi.org/10.2307/2079079 Published: 01 Decembe…
Mapping Modern Sport
Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity
(1991). Sport and the redefinition of American middle‐class masculinity. The International Journal of the History of Sport: Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 5-27
City Games
The Old College Try
The Historiography of American Sport
The Historiography of American Sport Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess is Professor of History at Northeastern Illinois University. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Sport History and is the author of City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports and Touching Base: Professional Baseball and American Culture in the Progressive Era. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Goog…
The Babe
Journal Article The Babe. Prod. by John Fusco. Directed by Arthur Hillet. Universal Pictures, 1992. 2 hrs., 35 mins Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 79, Issue 3, December 1992, Pages 1277–1278, https://doi.org/10.2307/2080969 Published: 01 December 1992
The Sidewalks of St. Louis
Journal Article The Sidewalks of St. Louis: Places, People, and Politics in an American City. By George Lipsitz. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1991. x + 142 pp. $16.95, ISBN 0-8262-0814-2.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 79, Issue 3, December 1992, Pages 1126–1127, https://doi.org/10.…
City Games
Games Colleges Play
Journal Article Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics. By John R. Thelin. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. xx, 252 pp. $34.95, ISBN 0-80184716-8.) Get access Steven A. Riess Steven A. Riess Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 82, Issue 2, September 1995, Pages 803–804, https:/…
Historical Perspectives on Sport and Public Policy
The Sunday Game
Journal Article The Sunday Game: At the Dawn of Professional Football. by Keith McClellan. Akron: University of Akron Press, 1998 and Sports and the American Jew. Ed. by Steven A. Riess. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1998 Get access Lawrence E. Ziewacz Lawrence E. Ziewacz Michigan State University, East Lansingy Michigan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 86, Issue 3…
Sports, Gender, and Society (29 works) · History (27 works) · American Sports and Literature (26 works) · History (25 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Political science (17 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (17 works) · Classics (14 works) · Classics (14 works) · Library science (13 works)