Mary Sargent Hopkins

Mary Sargent Hopkins, also known as Miss "Merrie Wheeler"^[1] and The "Outdoor Woman",^[2] was an American women's health advocate and bicycle enthusiast,^[1] that used her work to promote the domestic role of a women.^[1] In addition to this, Hopkins was a journalist, publishing many articles regarding women's health and bicycling for women. She was the founder of the women's cycling magazine "The Wheelwoman", and through this magazine promoted her beliefs on womanhood and health to her readers. Hopkins believed that women riding bicycles and being outdoors more would better their mental and physical health, and she thought that the stigma around women not being able to ride bikes should change. Although a women's advocate in the cycling and health sphere, Hopkins did not believe in the progression of women's rights in all other aspects, and she connected the work that she did back to the necessity of the domestic role of a woman.