Margaret Abbott

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameMargaret Ives•Abbott (-Dunne)
Used nameMargaret•Abbott
Born15 June 1876 in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal (IND)
Died10 June 1955 in Greenwich, Connecticut (USA)
AffiliationsChicago Golf Club, Wheaton (USA)
NOC United States
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

With a nine-hole score of 47, Margaret Abbott gained a measure of renown by becoming the first American woman, and second overall, to win an Olympic gold medal. Miss Abbott was from Chicago, but had traveled to France with her mother to study art and music. While there she learned of the Olympic golf event and, already an accomplished golfer, entered. Her mother also played, finishing in a tie for seventh. Margaret Abbott had learned her golf at the Chicago Golf Club, schooled by Charles Blair MacDonald and H. J. Whigham, two of the top American amateurs. Although she never played in a major tournament in this country she was probably Chicago’s top woman player in 1900, winning many of the local events. While in Paris, Margaret Abbott studied art under Degas and Rodin, but while there she met Finley Peter Dunne, who would later become a noted American humorist. She and Dunne were married in 1902 and lived in New York for many years. Margaret Abbott won the 1902 Femina Cup in Paris, which was the forerunner of the French Women’s Championships, which started in 1908.

Her son, Phillip Dunne, was a Hollywood screenwriter who received two Oscar nominations and, along with other notable Hollywood celebrities, formed the “Committee for the First Amendment” to protest the procedures of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was a co-founder of the Screen Writers Guild and was later on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) from 1946-48.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1900 Summer Olympics Golf USA Margaret Abbott
Individual, Women (Olympic) 1 Gold

Olympic family relations