Tessie Reynolds, a long-forgotten cycling athlete from the late Victorian era, has returned to the spotlight through Brighton Museums.
Brighton Museums “100 First Women Portraits” celebrates women’s accomplishments through the photography of Anita Corbin. Portraits range from Lady Hale of the Supreme Court, to football manager Hope Powell, to musician Suzi Quatro. The exhibit ran February 15th-June 7th 2020 but has been extended online.
As a companion to the exhibit the Brighton Museum Blog launched , “100 Pioneering Women of Sussex.” Posts by staff and guest writers dig deep into local women’s history. To mark world Cycling Day on June 3rd, I contributed a piece about teenage cycling sensation Tessie Reynolds who smashed the Brighton to London and back record in 1893.