Kittie Knox Inspiration and Resources
Rides
Massachusetts Routes
Saturday Morning Octobber 2, 2027 Kittie Knox Ride.
(From Mount Auburn Cemetery Cambridge Maintenance gate)
20-Mile Ride:https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50439341
35-Mile Ride: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46781818
Metric Century Ride: Kittie Knox Metric+ 2026 · Ride with GPS
Cemetery Walk (visiting gravesites of: Kittie Knox, Joseph Gardner Holmes, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and William Handy)
96g9hk/KIttie_Knox_Walk_Mount_Auburn_Cemetery.docx?rlkey=ort3raqq0bhumkg6rc1tnucte&st=y7s2unpp&dl=0
Souvenir Cards Souvenir Card Deck (29 cards) for Kittie Knox Ride, 2026
For more information send a message through Contact – Bicycling History You will be informed when MassBike registration opens.
Plays
Plays in Place Book
The Making of the Kittie Knox Plays
The Kittie Knox Plays produced by Plays in Place and MassBike
Complete video of production available to view on-site only at Archives and Special Collections University of Massachusetts Boston. Email library.archives@umb.edu
Interviews and Presentations
John Allen YouTube recording at Waltham bookstore. Kittie Knox at 5:40
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kieCiCUsD5o
Melanie Morris podcast July 2026 https://vimeo.com/1201115233
Karen Holmes Ward interview with Kirsten Geenidge, and Hampton Richards
CityLine: The life and legacy of Kittie Knox
WGBH Culture Show (3rd segment at 40:45) – Radio interview with Kirsten Greenidge
September 11, 2025 – David Duchovny, a Boston Film Festival preview, and The Kittie Knox Plays | GBH
Derrick Jackson at the Museum of African American History, Boston Kittie Knox at 6:20 https://youtu.be/NOBfkBomOYo?si=N-ZazwX2Mqd0aoLl
Books and Articles
Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport and Society
UMass Press Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900
Boston’s Black Athletes: Identity, Performance, and Activism (Chapter 3: Kittie Knox, Boston Cyclist in the 1890s: The War Between Exclusion and Inclusion). https://books.google.com/books/publisher/content?id=IXH_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PR7&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&bul=1&sig=ACfU3U0iH7aGjEKnmga-w0J2WdTPZ-zAfQ&w=1280
Museum Displays
Kittie Knox, Major Taylor and Orient Bicycle at Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, Waltham, MA
League of American Bicyclists Kittie Knox Award 2026
MassBike Honored With “Kittie Knox Award” by League of American Bicyclists – Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (background)
Film of Awards Ceremony: Starts 15:35 https://www.youtube.com/live/0WMU_chPzcM
Jazz Dottin film https://youtu.be/srHN7_2AxZ8?si=fIDreHbHTtFJa1YB
Bay State Banner Article
https://baystatebanner.com/2026/06/25/juneteenth-ride-walking-tour-to-honor-cyclist-kittie-knox
Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation display and events, Mill talk:
https://www.wgbh.org/forum-network/lectures/kittie-knox-cyclist
MA 250 banner project: Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation https://www.charlesrivermuseum.org/ma250-project
Bicycling History Collection at UMass-Boston Archives Research Guides at University of Massachusetts Boston Contact at library.archives@umb.edu for assistance.
Kittie Knox Gravesite
Mount Auburn Cemetery Information
Kittie Knox (1874-1900) – Mount Auburn Cemetery
Other Resources
Polyester Kittie Knox shirts available through the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, Waltham, MA.
Kittie Knox Community Cycle Center at Cambridge Crossing
https://cambridgecrossing.com/open-spaces
Smithsonian Post about Kittie Knox
Breaking the Cycle: the Kittie Knox story – Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound
Knox Academy of Black Girls Do Bike
KNOX ACADEMY | BLACK GIRLS DO BIKE
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Kittie Knox the first African American member of the League of American Wheelmen? Ans. Despite man claims there is no evidence of this. Probably not. She was a bicycling barrier breaker and didn’t have to be a first in everything to make an impact.
Did Kittie Knox Marshall “Major” Teylor? Ans. There is no direct evidence, but it seems likely that they had a passing acquaintance. He raced at Waltham and Cambridge tracks, and she was likely a spectator, along with the Riverside Cycling Clun she was associated with
What did she die of? Chronic nephritis, October 11, 1900, at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is buried at Mouth Auburn Cemetery.
Who were her allies? Ans. Riverside Cycle Club, Boston cycling leader Charles
Percival.
Who was her nemesis? Ans. Colonel William W. Watts of Louisville KY,
publisher of the Southern Cycler.
Inspiration Room: Comments from those Inspired by Kittie Knox Plays and Rides
Bill Nesper, Executive Director, League of American Bicyclists
“Kittie Knox set an example that today continues to push us to think bigger about who we serve and how to best work towards a Bicycle Friendly American FOR EVERYONE.”
Hampton Richards (Kittie Knox in Plays-in-Place production)
“Kittie Knox fought courageously for the right for everyone to enjoy the freedom of bike riding. The plays made me fall in love with bike riding, again, as I experience ‘the wind in my face.'”
Inspiration reported by Walter J. Stevnes, Kittie Knox’s next-door neighbor on Irving Street in the West End of Boston, 1890s.
More Resources especially for Parents and Children to talk about Kittie Knox
Compiled by:
Lorenz J. Finison, Ph.D.
Author: Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900 &
Boston’s 20th Century Bicycling Renaissance &
Bicycling Inclusion and Equity (2023)
Friend, Bicycling History Collections, UMass-Boston Archives
Member, New England Cycling Coalition for Diversity
Bicycling History 
