In today's integrated culture, it is easy to forget the mavericks it took to get us here. The biker club Cycle Queens of America is a perfect example of just how far we've come; it was a club ahead of its time in many ways.
In 1958, Delores Davis was refused access to a women's club in Philadelphia (called Motor Maids). We all know that sometimes biker clubs and culture have been dominated by men, but we may forget the people who were denied access based on the color of their skin. Davis was refused access to the club for this reason, as at the time, it was an all-white club.
Davis, along with another rider, Margaret Bonham, went on to found Cycle Queens of America that same year. Margaret Bonham was laid up in the hospital from a broken thigh when she conceived the idea with Davis, Davis visited her in the hospital. When Bonham heard Davis had been denied, she and Davis decided to form their own club, Cycle Queens of America. Unlike the other club, this one was never racially segregated. The club went on to raise money for charities and race in local events. It even expanded to several states across the Northeast and East. Women from all over joined the club (after completing the required 100 mile ride to become eligible), clothing themselves in the iconic red and white uniform to identify themselves.
Davis and Bonham were true mavericks, ahead of their time in building a new kind of club, where all women were welcome. Even today, we still have a long way to go to get to equality. It kind of makes you want to get a biker patch (maybe in red and white!) to commemorate these remarkable women, doesn't it?
