Annie Londonderry

Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (1870 – 11 November 1947), known as Annie Londonderry, was a Latvian immigrant to the United States who in 1894–95 became the first woman to bicycle around the world. After having completed her travel, albeit mostly by ship, she built a media career around engagement with the popular conception of what it was to be female.

Early life and marriage Annie Cohen was born in Latvia to Levi (Leib) and Beatrice (Basha) Cohen. She had two older siblings, Sarah and Bennett. Her family moved to the United States in 1875

They settled in Boston, Massachusetts, and lived in a tenement on Spring Street, in the West End. On January 17, 1887, her father died, and her mother died two months later. Her older sister Sarah was already married and living in Maine, leaving Annie (age 17) and her brother Bennett (age 20) to take care of their younger siblings Jacob and Rosa (ages 10 and 8 or 9 at the time, respectively). Later in 1894, two rich Boston men allegedly wagered $20,000 against $10,000 that no woman could travel around the world by bicycle in 15 months and earn $5000. If Annie's gambit was a stunt, one person stood to benefit: Colonel Albert Pope,

Sponsorships were crucial to financing the enterprise and the publicity surrounding it. Her 42-pound Columbia women's bike carried a placard attached to the rear wheel that advertised New Hampshire's Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company, for which the company paid her $100 and she in turn agreed to go by the name "Annie Londonderry" for the duration of her trip. in Stockton the evening after the accident. She was back home in Boston on September 24, arriving fifteen months after she had left. When she published an account of her exploits in the New York World on October 20, 1895, the newspaper headline described it as "the Most Extraordinary Journey Ever Undertaken by a Woman". which paid her $100 to carry a placard on her bike with its company name and to use the name "Annie Londonderry" throughout her trip.

During her travels, she gave lectures about her adventures, often exaggerating her exploits. These enthralled the media and boosted her popularity. For instance, in France she described herself as an orphan, wealthy heiress, a Harvard medical student, the inventor of a new method of stenography, and the niece of a U.S. senator. She left again, living in northern California.

In 2013, Gillian Klempner Willman of Spokeswoman Productions wrote, directed and produced a 26-minute documentary film titled The New Woman - Annie "Londonderry" Kopchovsky. It premiered in February 2013 at the DC Independent Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Documentary.

In November 2019, Londonderry was featured in an obituary in The New York Times, as part of their "Overlooked" series.

In August 2022, RIDE, a new musical based on Annie Londonderry's cycle by Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams, starring Liv Andrusier and Yuki Sutton, debuted at the Charing Cross Theatre. The musical returned in 2023, playing at the Curve Theatre, Leicester and the Southwark Playhouse with Liv Andrusier returning as Annie and Katy Ellis. In April 2024, the musical made its U.S. premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California.

Timeline of the trip Her trip proceeded according to this timeline: 12 April 1895 — Stockton, California 19 April 1895 —San Jose, California San Luis Obispo, California 2 May 1895 — Paso Robles, California 15 May 1895 — Santa Barbara, California Los Angeles, California San Bernardino, California Riverside, California Indio, California Yuma, Arizona Phoenix, Arizona Tucson, Arizona Deming, New Mexico El Paso, Texas Albuquerque, New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico Las Vegas, New Mexico Raton, New Mexico Raton Pass Trinidad, Colorado La Junta, Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado August 12, 1895 - Denver, Colorado Cheyenne, Wyoming Train through Nebraska Fremont, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Missouri Valley, Iowa Ames, Iowa Tama, Iowa Cedar Rapids, Iowa Clinton, Iowa Rochelle, Illinois September 12, 1895 - Chicago, Illinois September 24, 1895 - Boston, Massachusetts