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Helene Madison papers, 1914-1972

Overview of the Collection

Collector
Madison, Helene, 1913-1970
Title
Helene Madison papers
Dates
1914-1972 (inclusive)
1929-1932 (bulk)
Quantity
2 boxes, (.84 cubic feet)
Collection Number
1970.5051 (collection)
Summary
Photographs, papers, ephemera and realia documenting the career of the Seattle swimming champion and 1932 Olympic gold medal winner
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
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Biographical Note

Seattle swimming phenomenon Helene Madison (June 19, 1913 – November 27, 1970) had already broken all sixteen world freestyle records and most of the American freestyle records before going on to win three gold medals at the 1932 Olympics Games in Los Angeles at 19 years old.

Born in South Bend, Washington, Madison began swimming in early childhood, after the family relocated to Seattle when Madison was two years old. When she was six, the family moved to a home a block away from Green Lake, where Helene swam regularly and participated in the Parks Department swim programs. With the help of Green Lake coach Jack Torney, Helene developed an effective racing technique, began competing locally, and soon outgrew the competition. Winning the Seattle Post-Intelligencer swim carnival in 1928, Madison caught the eye of Ray Daughters, coach at the Crystal Pool, who recruited her for his team. Swimming competitively under Daughters for the Crystal Pool team and later, for the Washington Athletic Club, Madison developed her extraordinary talent in the freestyle to the point of being virtually unbeatable. Within sixteen months in 1930-1931, Madison broke all sixteen world freestyle records in various distances, sweeping the freestyle events at various national championships. She traveled to New York for the Olympic swimming trials at Jones Beach, winning first place in the 100 meters and 400 meters freestyle, and qualifying for the American women's team.

Competing in the tenth Olympiad in Los Angeles in August 1932, Madison won three gold medals in the freestyle--in the 100 meters, 400 meters and 400 meter relay. Madison was honored upon her return by the largest ticker tape parade in Seattle history and a banquet in her honor at the Civic Auditorium. The 1932 Olympics, however, marked the end of Madison's amateur swimming career. In order to contribute to the family's finances, especially after they had committed substantial resources to support her swimming, Madison had already decided to pursue the apparently lucrative opportunities created by her fame.

During the Olympics, several athletes were wooed by Hollywood executives, and Madison had accepted a motion picture contract even before Games had ended. She starred as herself in the unsuccessful Mack Sennett comedy "The Human Fish" in 1932 and performed in an uncredited role in the 1933 "The Warrior's Husband"; a brief career as a nightclub entertainer followed. These roles and her paid performances in swimming exhibitions, while not providing the substantial financial compensation Madison had hoped for, nevertheless officially ended her amateur status, precluding Madison's participation in the 1936 Olympic Games. Retired from competition and disqualified from teaching by the Seattle Parks Department policy of not hiring female swim instructors, in 1936 Madison worked selling hot dogs at a confectionary stand at Green Lake bathing beach in order to earn some money. Soon after, Madison decided to enter training at Virginia Mason Hospital to pursue a career as a registered nurse. While in training, she met Luther C. McIver, an executive at Puget Sound Power and Light, while he was one of her convalescing patients. Madison married McIver in March 1937, and the couple had a daughter, their only child, Helene Jr. ("Junie"), the following year.

Madison continued to appear in newspapers, largely in relation to her earlier accomplishments and those of swimmers who were beginning to break her records, as well as in occasional public appearances. Her direct involvement in swimming was minimal until the late 1940s or so, when Madison opened a swimming school at the Moore Hotel pool, coaching male and female swimmers, including future Olympian Nancy Ramey. By the late 1950s, however, Madison's health had begun to decline, and the school closed in 1958. Already diagnosed with diabetes, Madison developed throat cancer in the mid-1960s; she died, after a long and painful illness, in her Green Lake basement apartment in November 1970 at age 57.

Today, Seattle has two Helene Madison pools, a Seattle Parks and Recreation pool on Meridian Avenue North, dedicated in 1972, and a pool at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle. Helene Madison was posthumously inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992.

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Content Description

The collection consists of photographs, personal papers, ephemera and realia. The photographs document Madison's swimming career from her first competitions in 1929 through the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games in 1932. The photographs depict Madison swimming, at poolside, and with team members and coaches. An album of photographs, probably put together by Madison, contains photographs (many autographed) of other swimmers, probably at the 1932 Olympics. Other photographs depict Madison in Hollywood settings, and in her later years.

Papers and ephemera include school and swimming certificates, high school yearbooks, and programs. A series on Madison's Olympics participation includes two daily programs, Madison's qualifying certificate from the New York Olympic trials and an autograph book containing signatures of other athletes.

Clippings document Madison's rise as a swimming champion, from her early races through the Olympics, as well as her later careers in nursing and coaching. The realia series includes 22 medallions from FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) marking Madison's world records in the freestyle set in 1930-1931.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in MOHAI's online collections.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Helene Madison papers, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into five series:

  • Photographs
  • Personal Papers
  • Artwork
  • Ephemera
  • Realia

Location of Collection

13a.4.7

Location of Collection

13a.4.10

Acquisition Information

Gift of Roscoe "Torchy" Torrance, December 11, 1970.

Processing Note

Processed by Helice Koffler in 2004 and Jody Hendrickson in 2008.

Collection materials are numbered beginning with number 4; numbers 1 through 3 have been assigned to the artifacts received with the donation.

Separated Materials

These materials are part of a donation that also included a number of artifacts. These artifacts are cataloged and stored separately by MOHAI's Collections Department.

A 1913 menu from a meeting of the Skåninaklubbens was relocated to the Clubs section of the Ephemera files in the repository.

Bibliography

Pieroth, Doris. Their Day in the Sun. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

  • Photographs, 1914-1960s

    86 loose photographs
    1 album of 90 photographs

    Arranged roughly chronologically. A photograph album from 1929-1932 is at the end of the series.

    • Description: 4-8: Helene Madison as a child
      5 photographs
      8: Alfred Prather (photographer)

      Images of Madison from age 13 months to approximately 10 years old.

      Copy negative on file for 1970.5051.8.

      Dates: circa 1914-1924
      Container: Box/Folder 1/1
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s

    • Fleishhacker Pool, San Francisco, 1930 September

      These images are probably related to the Far Western Swimming Championships at the Municipal Swimming Pool at Herbert Fleishhacker Playfield in San Francisco, September 6 and 7, 1930. Madison, then of Crystal Swimming Club under coach Ray Daughters, competed in the 100 and 200 meters free style races. At the time of the race Madison was already holder of all the world free style swimming records.

    • Description: 26: Helene Madison and coach Ray Daughters at desk
      Alfred Prather, Seattle (photographer)

      Copy negative on file

      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 27: Helene Madison in Washington Athletic Club swimsuit at poolside
      Alfred Prather, Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 28: Helene Madison and five Washington Athletic Club teammates around table
      World Wide Photos, San Francisco Bureau (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 29: Helene Madison in canoe at poolside
      World Wide Photos, San Francisco Bureau (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 30: Helene Madison shaking hands with another swimmer
      World Wide Photos, San Francisco Bureau (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 31: Helene Madison with WAC teammates and other swimmers at poolside
      F. Billie Wilcox, Centralia, Washington (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 32: Helene Madison and 3 teammates in WAC swimsuits posed with elderly couple on lawn
      F. Billie Wilcox, Centralia, Washington (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/3
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 33: Helene Madison and young swimmers at poolside at Natatorium in Wenatchee
      Simmer Studio (photographer)
      Dates: 1930 July 29
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 34: Helene Madison in warm up suit at indoor pool
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 35: Studio portrait of Helene Madison in swimsuit
      Grady, Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 36-38: Helene Madison dressed as cowgirl for parade in Ellensburg, Washington
      3 photographs 2" x 3"
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/4
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s

    • Return from Women's National Championship in Miami Beach, 1930

      These photographs depict Helene Madison after her return from the Women's National Championship at Miami Beach in March 1930, where she won every freestyle event and broke six records.

    • Description: 44-45: Helene Madison posing for art classes
      45: Fred Mae, San Francisco (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1/6
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s

    • Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August

      • Description: 46: Helene Madison in Olympic warm up suit with spectator bleachers in background
        2" x 3"

        Photo with Olympics themed border

        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 47: Helene Madison swimming
        Fred Mae , San Francisco (photographer)

        Caption on verso: "'Sister to the flying fish' Helene Madison, champion of Olympians, as she appears, swimming the 400 meter swim, her crowning achievement in the Olympics. Aug. 13, 1932."

        Additional photographer's stamp on verso: Alfred Prather, Seattle, Washington.

        Dates: 1932 August 13
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 48: Olympic swimmers Eleanor Holm, Georgia Coleman, Jane Fauntz, Agnes Geraghty, and Helene Madison

        Copy negative on file.

        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 49: Helene Madison, Josephine McKim, Eleanor Holm and another swimmer
        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 50: Helene Madison and Georgia Coleman in street clothes sitting on wooden horse
        Keystone Photo Service , Los Angeles (photographer)

        Copy negative on file.

        Dates: probably 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 51-54: Olympians with Hollywood celebrities

        Hollywood celebrities entertained the Olympic athletics before the games began. Three of these photos show Helene Madison, Georgia Coleman and another woman with Frederick March and another man. One image (54) depicts swimmers in a pool and at poolside with others, and possibly depicts a Hollywood-hosted event, but may be unrelated.

        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 55: Ticker tape parade on University Street between 4th and 5th Avenues, Seattle
        Walter P. Miller , Seattle (photographer)

        Seattle held the largest ticker tape parade in its history in honor of Helene Madison upon her return from the 1932 Olympics. This photograph shows huge crowds lining University Street with a platform set up in front of the Metropolitan Theatre.

        Copy negative on file.

        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August
      • Description: 56: Helene Madison waving to crowd in ticker tape parade.
        Alfred Prather , Seattle (photographer)

        Copy negative on file.

        Dates: 1932 August
        Container: Box/Folder 1/7
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1932 August

    • Hollywood, circa 1932

      Madison remained in Los Angeles for 2 weeks after the Games ended, apparently meeting with individuals from the movie industry, and some of these may have been taken at that time. Some may be related to Madison's brief acting career, primarily in the 1932 movie "The Human Fish." A few of them depict other swimmers with Madison as well as people who appear to be related to the movie industry.

      • Description: 57: Group, including Madison, posed around desk

        The group includes young women recognizable from other collection photos as swimmers, as well as men and women who appear to be actors and actresses.

        Dates: circa 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/8
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Hollywood, circa 1932
      • Description: 58-59: Madison and six other women posed in street

        These groups includes include the young women swimmers in the previous photo, and so probably on the same visit.

        Dates: circa 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/8
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Hollywood, circa 1932
      • Description: 60: Helene Madison and four young women near mail slots
        World Photos , San Francisco Bureau (photographer)

        This photo depicts some of the same women as in the previous photos.

        Dates: circa 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/8
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Hollywood, circa 1932
      • Description: 61: Helene Madison, Ivan Kahn (manager), Al Mannon and John Clein (producer) outside John Clein Productions building
        Woodbury , Los Angeles (photographer)

        2 copies

        Dates: circa 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/8
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Hollywood, circa 1932
      • Description: 62: Head shot of Helene Madison with platinum blond hair
        Maurice Seymour (photographer)
        Dates: circa 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/8
        Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s / Hollywood, circa 1932

    • Helene Madison and other swimmers, circa 1930-1932

      12 photographs 5' x 7" and smaller

      This group of smaller photographs depicts Helene Madison, often with other swimmers, in unidentified situations. All of the photographs are dated circa 1930-1932; some may have been taken while Madison was in Los Angeles for the Olympics

    • Description: 75-76: Helene Madison and two men near car outside Eldridge Buick Co., Pike Street, Seattle
      75: Alfred Prather , Seattle (photographer)
      76: Webster & Stevens , Seattle (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 1/10
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 77: Helene Madison in nurse uniform seated a desk
      Associated Press (photographer)

      Copy negative on file.

      Dates: circa 1936
      Container: Box/Folder 1/11
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 78-79: Helene Madison with Ann Curtis
      78: International News Photo , San Francisco (photographer)
      79: Gerald Beadin Photos , Seattle (photographer)

      These images show Helene Madison, in street clothes, shaking the hand of swimmer Ann Curtis after Curtis broke the American record for the 220-yard freestyle relay event

      Copy negative on file for 79

      Dates: 1946 April 14
      Container: Box/Folder 1/12
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 80-82: Helene Madison coaching young female swimmer (her daughter?) at indoor pool

      Copy negative on file for 82.

      Dates: 1948 March 6
      Container: Box/Folder 1/13
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 83: Helene Madison with Lincoln High School students and teacher
      Jack H. Johnson (photographer)
      Dates: 1952 February
      Container: Box/Folder 1/13
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 84: Head shot of Helene Madison
      Jack H. Johnson (photographer)
      Dates: 1961
      Container: Box/Folder 1/14
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 85: Helene Madison
      Forde photographers (photographer)
      Dates: circa 1960s
      Container: Box/Folder 1/14
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s
    • Description: 86: Ray Daughters holding framed photo collage of himself with young swimmers, standing with Helene Madison and three unidentified women
      Seattle Times (photographer)
      Dates: circa late 1960s
      Container: Box/Folder 1/13
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s

    • Miscellaneous

    • Description: 89: Photograph album
      90 photographs

      Includes photographs of Madison and others swimmers, some wearing swimsuits with "C" logo, probably the "Flying C" logo from Crystal Swimming Club; Madison with family and friends; Madison's coach Ray Daughters; swimming events; one photo of Madison leaning out the window of the airplane West Wind (1930); and Madison wakeboarding.

      Autographs on photos: "Wally" Colbath, Georgia Coleman, Mickey [Riley}, "Dutch" Smith, Johnny Riley, Leonard Spence, A. Zonittz (?), Maiola Kahli, George Kojar (?)

      Dates: circa 1929-1932
      Container: Box/Folder 1/16
      Location: Photographs, 1914-1960s

  • Personal papers

    • Correspondence, 1932-1947

    • Certificates

      • Description: Seattle Public Schools perfect attendance certificates
        Dates: 1924-1926
        Container: Box/Folder 1/19
        Location: Personal papers / Certificates
      • Description: Camp Fire Girls Certificate of Rank
        Dates: 1926
        Container: Box/Folder 1/20
        Location: Personal papers / Certificates
      • Description: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Master Swimmer's certificate
        Dates: 1931
        Container: Box/Folder 1/21
        Location: Personal papers / Certificates
      • Description: Amateur Athletic Union American Record Certificates for various events
        23 certificates
        Dates: 1931-1932
        Container: Box/Folder 1/22
        Location: Personal papers / Certificates
      • Description: Moore Pool swimming team Amateur Athletic Union membership certificate
        Dates: 1931 July 17
        Container: Box/Folder 1/23
        Location: Personal papers / Certificates

    • Programs

      • Description: Far Western Swimming Championships, Fleishhacker Pool, San Francisco
        Dates: 1930 September
        Container: Box/Folder 1/24
        Location: Personal papers / Programs
      • Description: Helene Madison Memorial Pool Dedication
        Dates: 1972
        Container: Box/Folder 1/25
        Location: Personal papers / Programs

    • Lists

      • Description: Titles, Records and Championships

        List of Madison's American and World Swimming records, listing distance, time, location and date, as well a list of her first place Olympic victories

        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 1/26
        Location: Personal papers / Lists
      • Description: List of trophies loaned to Gimbel's for use in window and store displays
        Dates: 1933
        Container: Box/Folder 1/26
        Location: Personal papers / Lists

    • Lincoln High School

    • Olympics, Los Angeles, 1932 August

  • Artwork

    • Description: Portrait of Helene Madison by newspaper artist Tom Renton
      Dates: circa 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2/5
      Location: Artwork
    • Description: Watercolor paintings by Helene Madison

      One painting of a poinsettia plant and one cityscape

      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2/5
      Location: Artwork

  • Ephemera

    • Description: Poster for demonstration by Madison at Sherbrook St. Baths, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
      Dates: 1931 April
      Container: Box/Folder 2/6
      Location: Ephemera

    • Publications containing articles about Madison

    • Description: Scrapbook of clippings

      The scrapbook also includes 6 8" x 10" photographs: Helene Madison boarding a train; Madison on train holding hand of Ray Daughters, on platform below; studio photo of Madison in swimsuit; Ray Daughters in swimsuit; Madison seated with Ray Daughters and Maud Daughters; Madison posed sitting on diving board.

      Dates: 1929-1930
      Container: Box/Folder 2/8
      Location: Ephemera
    • Description: Clippings
      3 folders
      Dates: 1930s-1960s
      Container: Box/Folder 2/9-11
      Location: Ephemera

  • Realia

    • Description: World record medallions
      22 medallions

      22 diamond shaped cloth medallions, with red trim and red and blue FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) emblem in center, embroidered with world free style records, including distance, time and date, set by Helene Madison.

      Dates: 1930-1931
      Container: Box/Folder 2/12
      Location: Realia
    • Description: Dance card for Order of DeMolay Temple Chapter Fall Informal
      Dates: 1930 October 25
      Container: Box/Folder 2/13
      Location: Realia
    • Description: Program on scroll for "Cinderella Ball" at the Civic Auditorium
      Dates: 1934 December 14th
      Container: Box/Folder 2/13
      Location: Realia
    • Description: Lincoln High School "L" patch and pin

      Inscribed on paper mount: "Miss Helene Madison, 1st Honorary Member, Lincolnelle, May 18, 1961."

      Dates: 1961 May 18
      Container: Box/Folder 2/13
      Location: Realia

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Olympic Games (10th : 1932 : Los Angeles, Calif.)
  • Swimmers--Washington (State)--Seattle

Personal Names

  • Coleman, Georgia--Photographs
  • Daughters, Ray--Photographs
  • Madison, Helene--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • United States--Washington (State)--Seattle

Form or Genre Terms

  • Ephemera
  • Photograph albums
  • Photographic prints

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Mae, Fred (photographer)
    • Marron, Joe (photographer)
    • Prather, Alfred (photographer)

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2008

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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