Skip to main content
  • Main menu
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Home
  • Explore
    • Study
    • Try
    • About
    • Multimedia
  • Invention Stories
    • Blog
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Diverse Voices: Women Inventors
  • Cindy Whitehead
Montage of photos of 8 women inventors

Top row: Marion O'Brien Donovan, Tara Astigarraga, Madison Maxey, Marilyn Hamilton. Bottom row: Michelle Khine, Marjorie Stewart Joyner, Alexis Lewis, Ellen Ochoa

Head shot of Cindy Whitehead, wearing a skate helmet, from her identification card for Marina Del Rey Skatepark

Cindy Whitehead

March 22, 2021 by Joyce Bedi

Throughout American history, women with diverse backgrounds and interests created inventions that change our lives every day.

Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print

“When I started in the ’70s, female skateboarding was still taboo and I was the only girl at the skatepark. I had to block out negative comments and stand my ground. I got sick of hearing, ‘She’s pretty good for a girl.”’

Cindy Whitehead

Cindy Whitehead turned pro in her teens and became a top-ranked skater. After retiring from competition, she reinvented herself as a sports stylist. In 2013, she created her brand of skateboards and apparel for girls and women, “Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word.” Proceeds from GN4LW support micro-grants and nonprofits that encourage girls in skateboarding. 

Listen to a podcast with Cindy Whitehead and Robin Logan >>

artifacts-whitehead-cindy-skatepark-card-marina-del-rey-AHB2016q007339-750-inline-edit.jpg

Laminated identification card for Marina Del Rey Skatepark, with a yellow background, No. 21198, Cindy Whitehead’s name, and expiration date of 10 July 1981. A headshot of Whitehead wearing a helmet is on the left of the card; on the right is the name of the park depicted with curving lines suggesting a skate ramp. The word “membership” has been crossed out and replaced with the handwritten word “coke.”

Skate card, Marina Del Ray Skatepark, used by Cindy Whitehead, around 1981. Gift of Cindy Whitehead. © Smithsonian Institution; photo AHB2016q007339

artifacts-whitehead-cindy-et2016-04864-750-inine-edit.jpg

Skateboard helmet has a black matte finish with "Girl [/] is [/] NOT [/] A 4 letter [/] Word" in gold with a gold heart and a pink skull on the left side of the helmet. "XS" is printed in gold on the front of the helmet. The helmet consists of a black styrofoam core with pink foam inserts and a black nylon chin strap with a black plastic buckle.

Skateboard helmet designed by pro skateboarder Cindy Whitehead, from the first manufacturer's run by XS Helmets, 2015. Whitehead was one of a few female vert skaters in the late 1970s and ’80s and was the only woman on the Sims Skateboards team at the time. Whitehead used her skate background to create the “Girl Is Not a 4 Letter Word” brand, which supports women in action sports. © Smithsonian Institution; photo by Hugh Talman, et2016-04864

artifacts-whitehead-cindy-AHB2013q105489-450-inine-edit.jpg

A watercolor painting on white Bristol board, drawn by Cindy Whitehead while designing her "Girl Is Not a 4 Letter Word" skateboard. The painting depicts a royal blue stylized outline of a skull, with red oval eyes, a red triangular nose, and diagonal short red lines for teeth, with a horizontal red line crossing the teeth.

This watercolor painting on white Bristol board was drawn by Cindy Whitehead while designing her "Girl Is Not a 4 Letter Word" skateboard, 2013. The drawings were an important part of her inventive process and demonstrate Whitehead’s creativity as well as her distinctive style. © Smithsonian Institution; AHB2013q105489


Source for quote above: Tracy Ramsden, “Female Skateboarding Might Just Be the Coolest Thing Ever.” Marie Claire, May 15, 2017, https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/female-skateboarding-506580.

  • Continue To Woman’s Building, 1893 World’s Fair
  • Previous
  • Introduction
  • Exhibitions
  • Tara Astigarraga
  • Patricia Bath
  • Ayah Bdeir
  • Cynthia Breazeal
  • Theresa Dankovich
  • Marion O’Brien Donovan
  • Marilyn Hamilton
  • Grace Hopper
  • Marjorie Stewart Joyner
  • Michelle Khine
  • Margaret Knight
  • Stephanie Kwolek
  • Alexis Lewis
  • Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, & Polly Palmer Smith
  • Madison Maxey
  • Ellen Ochoa
  • Amy Prieto
  • Sharon Rogone
  • Charlotte Cramer Sachs
  • Laura Shepherd
  • Kavita Shukla
  • Mária Telkes
  • Madam C. J. Walker
  • Cindy Whitehead
  • Woman’s Building, 1893 World’s Fair

Tags

  • Women inventors (Relevance: 38%)
  • Immigrant inventors (Relevance: 14%)
  • Native American inventors (Relevance: 1%)
  • African American inventors (Relevance: 21%)

Related Stories

Invention Stories

Exploring the History of Women Inventors

How likely is it that any American of any age could rattle off the names of five women inventors?

Hedy Lamarr
Invention Stories

A Movie Star, Some Player Pianos, and Torpedoes

Hedy Lamarr was dubbed the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, but she was more interested in inventing than in idle compliments.

A black-and-white icon of a Mac Classic computer with a smiling face on the screen.
Blog

Susan Kare, Iconic Designer

Susan Kare designed the distinctive icons, typefaces, and other graphic elements that gave the Apple Macintosh its characteristic—and widely emulated—look and feel.

Frances Gabe pointing to model of her self-cleaning house, 1979
Blog

You Don’t Have Time to Clean Your House—Now What?

Frances Gabe called cleaning a “thankless, unending job, a nerve-twangling bore.” She set out to change that.

VIEW 2727 Matching Results

Found 2727 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.2071873854052%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.7473414008067%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4341767510084%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0803080308031%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5540887422076%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.5837917125046%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3370003667033%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.4103410341034%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.367803447011%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8503850385039%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.4470113678034%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.5203520352035%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.3736707004034%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 5.977264393106%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
❯
Go to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History website

About Menu

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Explore
    • Blog
    • Invention Stories
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Study
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Try
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • About
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • News
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
    • Donate
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • Surprise Me
  • Search
  • Open Drawer
Copyright 2023, Smithsonian Institution, All Rights Reserved
  • DONATE
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print