Joan Newton Cuneo

Joan Newton Cuneo was born July 22, 1876 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and died March 24, 1934 in Ontonagon, Michigan. Mrs. Cuneo became famous in 1905 as a daring automobilist only after her marriage to Andrew Cuneo in 1898 and the birth of her two children, Antonio (A. Newton Cuneo (1899) and Maddalena (Dolly) Cuneo(1901. Between 1905 and 1912 Mrs. Cuneo would enjoy national celebrity because of her success as a daring racer willing to compete against all comers, both male and female. She also became a strong advocate for women drivers and the Good Roads Movement. Unfortunately after women were banned from organized racing, Mrs. Cuneo was no longer able to race and was reduced to setting women's speed records. After her husband's scandalous involvement with a showgirl, they divorced. Joan Cuneo then moved away from New York City where she had lived with her husband and children,first to Vermont and then to the upper peninsula of Michigan. There she married James Francis Sickman, her childhood sweetheart, shortly before her death. Until recently, she had received only a brief mention in automotive history "as the woman who got women banned from racing." Early Life Joan Carter Newton was the last of four daughters born to Leila Vulte and John Carter Newton in Holyoke Massachusetts. Her parents were an integral part of the large and successful Newton family who owned and developed land in Holyoke and Whitingham, Vermont. John Carter Newton was a self-made millionaire who indulged his youngest daughter Joan, treating her more like a son. He allowed her to take part in activities not considered proper for a young Victorian girl, including driving a steam train and a six horse team. Joan enjoyed outdoor life and was an expert horsewoman and bicyclist. However, her parents realized that Joan needed to curb her tomboy tendencies and sent her off to several boarding schools to learn the accomplishments necessary for a Victorian lady. In 1898, Joan Carter Newton married Andrew Cuneo, the wealthy adopted son of millionaire banker Antonio Cuneo. It is unlikely that Joan who grew up in Holyoke knew Andrew Cuneo, the son of an Italian immigrant from the New York ghetto, was well acquainted with her husband before their marriage. However, the marriage at least in its early years was happy and successful. The couple had two children, Antonio and Maddalena, in the first three years of their marriage. However, their relationship would gradually change when Andrew, who had no interest in automobiles, bought his wife a little steam car, a 1902 Locomobile. This would be the beginning of her life long love of driving an automobile fast. Joan Cuneo's Career as a "driver of large racing cars'Bold text In 1905, Joan Cuneo was already an experienced driver and had traded in the Locomobile for a much more powerful 1905 White steam car. In addition, she had learned much about the mechanical side of an automobile, as her husband had hired young Louis Disbrow as her mechanic/chauffeur. Disbrow was a neighbor who had recently escaped conviction for murder but he came from a good family and had experience with autos, as his brothers owned a nearby automobile agency. For the next 4 years, he would be Joan's riding mechanic, going with her to many racers, as well as on three Glidden Tours. Andrew Cuneo also went along to many of these events but he would often leave after a few days to attend to his business affairs. By 1905, the New York papers were full of automobile related events. One of the most talked about was the Glidden Tour, a brain child of Colonel Jasper Glidden, intended to popularize the auto while proving its reliability on a strenuous tour of several states on the difficult, unpaved roads of the time. Little Mrs. Cuneo, she was only 5'2", already an experienced driver was eager to participate and sent in her application. It was promptly rejected by the AAA, the current sanctioning body for the tour because only male drivers were allowed. Joan Cuneo, already a member of the AAA, sent her application back, saying that no-where in the rules did it state that women were excluded. She was right and the AAA reluctantly allowed her to enter, although they were not happy about it. The Accident Excited to participate in the 1905 Glidden, Joan and three passengers, her husband, Andrew Cuneo, her mechanic, Louis Disbrow and his sister, set off in her 1905 White. At least four other Whites were entered in the Tour, including one driven By Walther White, the president of the company. Little Mrs. Cuneo was enjoying the first day's drive when she saw the car in front of her, inexplicably stop and start to back-up at the entrance to a narrow bridge. Remember there were no brake lights in 1905. Joan Cuneo tried to evade the car but there was little room to maneuver; the wheels of the White ran off the bridge and the car and its passengers fell off the bridge and landed in the stream bed below. The White was a sturdy machine and started up after it was righted by nearby spectators and workmen. It's passenger suffered only bruises were unfazed by their experience. Mrs. Cuneo was able to drive her car up out of the ditch and they continued on their way. However, the battered White eventually gave out on the final day of the Tour despite repairs by a local blacksmith. Mrs. Cuneo's accident, however, made headline throughout the Northeast and would actually launch her career as a racer. Shortly after the Cuneo's got back to their Long Island home, several newspapers contacted Joan Cuneo and encouraged her to enter her car in the races at the Poughkeepsie Fairground.