In this article in the February 4, 2000 Dickinsonian, John Pappas
covered a talk given by Dr. Judith Yorio on the issues of women and
athletics. The talk, held on February 8, 2000, was hosted by the Zatae
Longsdorff Center for Women in honor of National Girls and Women in
Sports Day.
The 1905 Microcosm includes a story abour what Dickinson College would be fifty years in the future: 1955. The Dickinson of 1955 is much different than the Dickinson of 1905. The author highlights the difference in housing for women. He wrote, "There isn't a hen coop any more. We call it the "gilded cage". The college bought the deer park you used to tell me about, enlarged the house, built a gymansium adjoining, and made everything so lovely for the girls that the fellows had to change the name."
Miss Martha Barbour was hired as an instructor in physical culture (read, P.E.) for the female students at Dickinson. She was a graduate of the Boston School of Oratory and was not an alumna.
This pamphlet highlights the many rules governing Dickinson students regarding attendance, including special rules and penalties. Class could only be missed for chapel or medical necessities, either due to illness or prearranged for appointments. Demerits were received for skipped classes and being late, even for Physical Education classes. Every unexcused absense was worth 5 demerits, but that was doubled if it was the day before or following a holiday break.
In this report, the possibility of a Women's Center is mentioned. Opponents believed that this would be discrimination against men. While no center existed at the time, the Commission garnered its own bulletin board in the basement of Old West. , had an "open house" for its members and others, luncheons in HUB siderooms, and stressed the importance of getting all the Service Support Personnel who were women to be a part of the Commission.
1980s Physical Education Offering for Women, Slimnastics.
The Junior Basketball Group of 1932-33, the Class of 1934. Top row: E. Wentzel, J. Bastress, M. Jacots, M. Davis, E. Billow,
Bottom row: W. LaBau, H. Baker, R. Sharp (capt), H. Allen, E. Hibbs
This picture dates circa 1940 and shows a women's bowling team as a part of Dickinson's physical education ideas for women.
Compiled by the Dean of Women, Josephine Meredith, the Physical Director of the Y.W.C.A, Catharine Shaefer, and the Chairman of the Health Education Committee of the Y.W.C.A, Kathryn Riley. this pamphlet gives advice regarding the "Five Enemies of Health"- "Constipation, Colds, Cramps, Indigestion, and Worry" along with their causes and treatment.
Riding at Dickinson was offered as a spring or fall "elective" for physical education provided an opportunity for female students to enjoy the "outdoor life" to take rides through the woods after learning the basics in a ring. According to the 1934 Microcosm, sometimes the College would plan long trips in which students could horseback ride over the mountains and cook dinner over a fire at the end of the ride.