In two years, she had saved enough money for a bicycle. Tillie found work as a seamstress in a tailor's shop. The rest of the family came to America the following year. In 1891, Tillie and her brother August emigrated to America, joining their older sister Hanna in Chicago. After her father died when she was eight years old, she began working for a neighboring farmer during haying and harvesting to help support her mother, brother and three sisters. Tillie's reputation for having a strong will and perseverance began early. Tillie, who from the years 1897 to 1902 was known as "female bicycling champion of the world," was born in Skane, Sweden on April 23, 1875. Perhaps no one made a greater contribution to the acknowledgment of women as serious competitors in bicycle racing than Tillie Anderson. Although Women's Bicycle Racing began in 1879, during the high wheel era, it was considered more a novelty than a sport until the advent of the diamond-framed safety bicycle in 1890.
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