American Figure Skating

Although skating was born in Europe, Americans can be proud of the fact that figure skating, as we know it today, traces its origins directly back to an American - Jackson Haines - who was born in New York in 1840 and died in 1875 in Finland (popular folklore holds that he caught pneumonia during a raging blizzard he encountered while traveling by sled from St. Petersburg to Stockholm; in reality his death was attributed to tuberculosis).

Just before the Civil War, a skating craze, accompanied by a dancing craze, swept America, and during this time, Haines leapt into the limelight with his daring combination of both skating and dance. He was a true revolutionary, for in a country where figure skating had laboriously developed a stiff and
U.S. Figure Skating member clubs are eligible to hold figure skating exhibitions in the United States with the sanction of U.S. Figure Skating. Most people are aware nowadays of the professional ice shows that tour the world, but how many people know the genesis of this extremely popular form of show business? In the 1920s and '30s, commercial ice shows did not exist. At that time, a few U.S. Figure Skating member clubs regularly mounted ice carnivals - showcases for the top national and international skating talents. Only later, after champions such as Sonja Henie had gained their reputations through these carnivals, did they turn professional and inaugurate the professional shows that have developed into the multimillion-dollar businesses they are today.

A very important function of U.S. Figure Skating has been the financial assistance provided to skaters by the Memorial Fund, which was founded in the wake of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of the entire 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team.

The Memorial Fund was conceived as a means to not only honor the memory of the team, but also to give continuing support and assistance to up-and-coming skaters to help them reach the World