Kick [Gl]ass exhibit honoring women in football carries on Longue Vue legacy

Kick [Gl]ass: Women in Football showcases pioneers in the sport while carrying on the legacy of Edith and Edgar Stern. Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete

As Bourbon Street buzzed with football fans from around the world during the Super Bowl LIX festivities earlier this month, Longue Vue offered respite. Besides the inviting gardens and tranquil fountains, the space is host to Kick [Gl]ass, a first of its kind exhibit celebrating women in football.

Longue Vue is located northwest of downtown New Orleans. The property was the residence of Edith and Edgar Stern and their three children from the 1920s until the family left it to become a public garden and museum in 1980. In the 1940s, the couple enlisted designer Ellen Biddle Shipman to craft their house and landscape the surrounding gardens. Shipman only hired women to give them an opportunity in the industry, which mirrored the Sterns' own heart to help others.

Longue Vue joins in Super Bowl LIX festivities

For the Super Bowl LIX festivities, Longue Vue executives were in talks with Dr. Jen Welter, the first woman to hold a coaching position in the NFL. They wanted to help sponsor her Grrridiron Girls Football Camp, but the larger concept of an exhibition formulated.

“As we started talking to her and talking about what Longue Vue was and how we have all these things and talking about all of these stories of women, she’s like, ‘Well, what about all the other women? Not just me? What about all the others who came before me?’” Lenora Costa, Deputy Director of Collections told Kick The Concrete. “She’s always talking about standing on each other’s shoulder pads, right? ‘Who came before me? I’m only here because of the ones who came before me and I’m here and there’s going to be people above me later on who will do better, too.’

"This idea of growing and helping each other also fits very closely with our own conversation here as a historic site."

Longue Vue was the home of Edith and Edgar Stern. The house and surrounding gardens were designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman. Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete

On a tour of the Sterns' home, visitors can peruse artifacts and informational cards about women who broke barriers in football. The tour concludes in what used to be the family’s kitchen, which has now been converted into an exhibit space. There is a timeline on the wall that starts in 1963 with the establishment of the Women’s Professional Football League. The timeline highlights various accomplishments by women from diverse backgrounds, including Connie Carberg becoming the first woman NFL scout in 1976, Ariko Iso becoming the first woman NFL trainer in 2002 and Collette V. Smith becoming the first Black woman coach in the NFL in 2017. There are also points acknowledging women in pop culture that helped bring representation in TV, movies and fashion.

As a woman sports journalist covering the Super Bowl LIX festivities, Kick [Gl]ass served as fuel for me to keep pursuing my passion, following in the footsteps of these remarkable trail blazers.

Dr. Jen Welter (green dress) celebrates the opening ceremony of Kick [Gl]ass: Women in Football. Credit: Longue Vue

Piecing the exhibit together was essentially one big game of telephone. Welter offered her own insight and then asked her friends to contribute and asked them to spread the word to get others involved. Costa said as word got out about Kick [Gl]ass, more and more people wanted to contribute. Sarah Thomas, the first woman to be a full-time NFL referee, brought her uniform and yellow flag to the gallery’s opening ceremony. Curators will be able to add Philadelphia Eagles performance coach Autumn Lockwood to the exhibit as the first Black woman coach to win a Super Bowl.

The plan is to take Kick [Gl]ass to every Super Bowl moving forward while adding artifacts and information.

"I keep thinking of it as this is just the first quarter," Costa said. "Next year will be the second quarter and we’ll just keep going from there."

Stern Family Legacy of Giving Back

The Stern Family left a legacy of helping others and giving back. They each won a prestigious Times-Picayune Loving Cup for their philanthropic work in education, voting rights and social justice. Longue Vue says that Edith, Edgar and their three children lived off one-third of their money and gave away the other two-thirds. Edith was the daughter of the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Edgar was the son of a successful cotton merchant. Both came from Central European Jewish backgrounds and were most likely fueled by the concept of tzedakah.

“People associate it with the idea of charity, it’s not really charity,” Costa explained. “It’s more righteousness. So the idea is that if you see something that is not right, you should try and right it as best as you are able.”

Kick [Gl]ass gathered artifacts from women across the world of football, including Sarah Thomas' NFL referee uniform and flag. Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete

The Sterns lived in Longue Vue after World War II when Jim Crow laws dominated life in the South. Edgar noticed that one of the home’s Black employees was struggling to find housing for herself. That led to the idea of Pontchartrain Park. Edgar reportedly hired the developer who created nearby Gentilly Woods, which was intended as a white community, to create an equal development for the Black community. Pontchartrain Park featured an 18-hole golf course crafted by renowned Black designer Joseph Bartholomew. It was the first course he designed that he was allowed to play on.

“Access to sports was something that meant something to them in the ‘40s based on race, why wouldn’t it be access to sports today in 2024 based on gender?” Costa said of connecting the dots to host Kick [Gl]ass at Longue Vue. 

Edith and Edgar Stern both won a Times-Picayune Loving Cup for their philanthropic work. Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete

Longue Vue honors the beauty of collaboration

On the house tour, visitors stop by the Sterns' dining room where they were known for hosting people of opposing view points. The couple was fond of surprising their guests by inviting lively conversations that would otherwise be uncomfortable.

“The more you have a conversation, then the better it is that you’ll get somewhere,” Costa said. “I think that’s part of the world we live in now is that people talk, but they talk at each other, they don’t talk with each other and sort of have that collaborative moment.”

Kick [Gl]ass tells the history of women in football, including leagues, players, coaches, executives and pop culture moments. Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete

The spirit of collaboration and bringing people together to face tough issues continues today.

Kick [Gl]ass: Women in Football is included in the $27 admission for a Longue Vue house tour and is on display through March 15.