Archive Letter: ‘Three Sporty Girls’

In early 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton’s office posted an advertisement worded: Men wanted for hazardous journey. The overwhelming response was not limited to men, but the reply to Shackleton’s office to these ‘three sporty girls’ was one of regret.

  • Words: Pip Harrison

Having secured funding for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, Sir Ernest Shackleton set about rallying a team to crew his two ships, Endurance and Aurora, for a pincer movement attack on the Antarctic continent. In early 1914, so the story goes, Shackleton posted an advertisement worded: Men wanted for hazardous journey.

Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success. The overwhelming response from volunteers was not limited to men, but the reply from Shackleton’s office to these ‘three sporty girls’ was one of regret, writing that there were no vacancies for the opposite sex on the expedition.

Thanks to University of Cambridge, Scott Polar Research Institute

Article taken from

Issue 04
Articles

Further Reading

View All

Michael Christopher Brown

Michael Christopher Brown cut his teeth as a war photographer in Libya. Here he tells how he uses the camera to make sense of a confusing and complex world.

Matthew Alexander Henson

Matthew Henson was one of the greatest Arctic explorers of his time, yet prejudice forced him to live in obscurity.

The Year of the Panther

Afrofuturism first emerged as a challenge to why there were so few black science fiction writers, yet the movement has grown in range and strength to ask fundamental questions about the way we structure our world.

Landscape For Giants

A collaboration between Inuit of Baffin Island and Canada Goose has elevated recycling into a dynamic tool for community building.

Remote Museums

Far-flung objects of desire: pursuing knowledge to the edges of the world.

Seda Monastery

Perched on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, one of the largest religious institutes in the world lives under the threat of demolitions by the Chinese government.
Browse by Category