This day in history: Dr. Rosalie M. Ladova was arrested on this in 1913 on the charge of disorderly conduct in July 1913 for removing her bathing skirt and swimming in her bloomers at the municipal Jackson Park Beach.
In an action that made headlines around the world, Dr. Rosalie M. Ladova, a prominent Chicago physician, made an unsuccessful attempt to challenge the American social mores of the time, when she discarded the "bathing skirt" that female swimmers were required to wear in addition to the bloomers that covered their legs. Police arrested Dr. Ladova at the beach at Jackson Park on Lake Michigan and charged her with obscenity. After seeing the newspaper photographs the next day of Dr. Cordova's blouse and bloomers swimwear, Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison Jr. declared that "No woman should think of wearing that kind of costume" at a beach, and directed the city police to "gently but firmly insist upon the lady putting on proper costumes". The "skin-tight" bathing suit had long been accepted in Britain for both men and women. After Dr. Ladova's daring experiment, almost eight years would pass before the taboo was discarded in the United States, with Mayor Robert Crissye of the city of Somers Point, New Jersey, inviting women "to bathe on his city's beaches barelegged and in a one-piece suit", in the style of Australian swimmer Annette Kellermann.
At her court appearance, Dr. Ladova explained, "I believe in swimming, but women cannot swim in skirts." Judge Gemmill dismissed the charge, finding that the doctor's attire was not indecent.
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