Ice Skating in the National Archives
More than a century before an ice skater would land a historic quadruple axel jump in 2022, people across the U.S. and the Alaska Territory strapped on their skates and scritched their way across frozen ponds. The National Archives has skating-related photos and patents dating back to the 19th century.
You can learn about the impact of sports in the exhibit All American: The Power of Sports, which ran in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, DC, from September 16, 2022, through January 7, 2024.
Robert E. Ellerbeck's "Improvement in Skates," patented January 22, 1867. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Unidentified young indigenous couple ice skating, from the series "Photographs of the Inhabitants of Metlakatla, British Columbia and Metlakatla, Alaska." View in the National Archives Catalog.
Winter picnic and skating party from the series "Photographs of the Inhabitants of Metlakatla, British Columbia and Metlakatla, Alaska." View in the National Archives Catalog.
Skating party in Fort Keogh, Montana, circa 1890. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Harry S. Truman and Noland cousins ice skating on a pond at the Truman family farm in Grandview, Missouri, circa 1910. From left to right: Mary Ethel Noland, Nellie Noland, Harry S. Truman, and Mary Jane Truman. View in the the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.
A child of Japanese ancestry practices ice skating at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Heart Mountain, Wyoming, on January 10, 1943. Photo by Tom Parker. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Ice skating at Meeks Field, Iceland. Printing in the October 1945 issue of Air Force magazine. View in the National Archives Catalog
Group of skaters using the skating rink at Michigan's Silver Valley Winter Sports Area, circa 1940. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Patent Case File No. 2,642,679, Ice Rink Resurfacing Machine by inventor Frank J. Zamboni, filed May 16, 1949. Records of the Patent and Trademark Office. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Ice skating in Boston's Public Garden, February 1973. Photo by Ernst Halberstadt. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Skating rink in front of the National Archives Building from the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) Newsletter, March 1975. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Vivian Ann Hoelton, Olympic ice skater for Norway, skating near the White Mountain National Forest in North Conway, New Hampshire, 1938. Photo by B.W. Muir. Records of the Forest Service. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Frozen Cumberland Bay in Plattsburgh provides an ideal opportunity for ice skating on Lake Champlain, New York. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Read more about ice skating-related holdings at the National Archives:
- The Unwritten Record: Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center, 1937 (2013)
- The Unwritten Record: This Week in Universal News: Ice Skating Chimpanzee, 1963 (2014)
- Catalog: President Ronald Reagan's Remarks to Members of the United States Winter Olympic Team, 1988
- Catalog: Henry Ford Ice Skating, 1937
- Catalog: Kate S. Todd Improvement in Skating-Wands, 1872