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Guide to the Stanford University, Women's Physical Education
Department, Records
SC0144
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Table of contents
Call Number: SC0144
Creator:
Stanford University. Women's Physical Education
Department.
Title: Stanford University, Women's Physical Education Department,
records
Dates: 1928-1982
Physical Description:
30 Linear feet (36 boxes)
Summary: Records of the department include staff meeting minutes,
newsletters, correspondence, materials relating to medical research projects of the
faculty, and records of the operation of the Women's Student Health Service. Also
includes course materials, correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, and
miscellaneous materials pertaining to the department and photographs and records of two
dance clubs - the Stanford Hoedowners and the Stanford Folk Dancers. Of note are
completed survey forms on the recreational needs of women college students, 1948, from
Mills College, Stanford, University of New Mexico, and University of Wyoming, with
related correspondence and notes.
Language(s): The materials are in English.
Language(s): The material is in English.
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials
are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more information on
paging collections, see the department's website:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.
Repository:
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives
Stanford University. Libraries & Academic Information Resources
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064
Email: speccollref@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1022
URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html
Administrative transfers, Department of Athletics, Physical Education and
Recreation, 1975, 1982; gift, Luell Guthrie, 1982.
This collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is
given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission
must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Stanford University, Women's Physical Education Department, Records (SC0144).
Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR WOMEN AT STANFORD 1891-1975
Stanford University had a department of "Physical Training and Personal Hygiene" with
facilities for both men and women when it opened in 1891. In 1928-29, the first year
represented in this collection, the School of Hygiene and Physical Education was divided
into four areas: Informational Hygiene; Physcical Education, including athletics;
Student Health Service; University Health Service. The Men's and Women's Student Health
Services administered annual examinations for all students, provided a referral service
for students who were ill, and, with the help of a mother's group, provided a Rest Home
for mildly ill students. The University Health Service examined food handlers in the
University food services, analyzed samples of the university water and milk supply,
etc.
In 1929-30 the new Roble gymnasium for women was constructed. The functions and
positions of Medical Advisor of Women and Director of Physical Education for Women were
combined under one unified Department of Hygiene and Physical Education for Women. The
director and her assistants examined each student annually. Based on the resulting
report, a physical fitness program appropriate to the health of each student was
prescribed. Women who missed Physical Education classes, or who were performing
inadequately in their academic work, were required to report to the director. The
women's department offered courses in gymnastics ("for the correction of physcial
defects"), marching ("to develop subjective controls"), dancing, swimming, archery,
basketball, field hockey, tennis, track and field.
In 1930-31 women were offered a teaching minor, and some of the theory courses in
Anatomy and Men's Physical Education opened enrollment to women students. In 1936-37 a
joint degree program with the School of Education was established, with specialization
in dance, physiotherapy, hygiene, or general sports. The following year a professional
program offering the Ph.D. and Masters degrees was established.
Throughout the 1930's the faculty of the Department of Hygiene and Physical Education
for Women was involved in research studies in anatomy and physiology. In 1939-40 a
division of Physical Therapy was added to the department, offering both a Master of
Arts, and a Ph.D. minor.
In 1940 the department's name was changed to the School of Health. 1942-43 brought the
addition of a division of Nutrition and Dietetics, a nursery school program, and a
special program on the treatmetit of poliomyelitis in the division of Physical
Therapy.
The School of Health was dissolved in 1945-46. The physical education requirement for
undergraduates was reduced from four years to two years.
The Men's and Women's Student Health Services were combined and located in one wing of
the Roble Gymnasium, with the Palo Alto Medical Clinic assuming administrative
responsibilities. The program in Nutrition and Dietetics was dropped. Physical Therapy
became a fully separate department, operating in conjunction with the division of
Physical Therapy of the Stanford Hospital. The Health Education courses, professional
degrees programs, and their faculty were transferred to the School of Education. Degree
programs leading to a Bachelor of Arts, a secondary teaching credential, and/or advanced
degrees continued to be available to women until 1963. Thereafter, the education courses
were open only to male students.
Following the departmental rearrangement in the mid-'40s only physical activity courses
and extra-curricular activities remained under the administration of the new Women's
Physical Education Department. The administrative organization of the department
remained essentially unchanged until its merger in 1975 with the Department of Physical
Education for Men to form the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and
Recreation.
Records of the department include staff meeting minutes, newsletters, correspondence,
materials relating to medical research projects of the faculty, and records of the
operation of the Women's Student Health Service. Also includes course materials,
correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, and miscellaneous materials pertaining
to the department and photographs and records of two dance clubs - the Stanford
Hoedowners and the Stanford Folk Dancers. Of note are completed survey forms on the
recreational needs of women college students, 1948, from Mills College, Stanford,
University of New Mexico, and University of Wyoming, with related correspondence and
notes.
EXPLANATIONS OF CERTAIN FOLDER TITLES
The folder titles in the general files are occasionally misleading. An explanation of
the types of materials filed under particular headings follows:
"Daily Reports" "Daily Summary Reports" Contents include 'statistics on who used the
Health Service and why. "Rest Home Reports"
"Examinations" "Houses -- Examinations and Contents include lists of students and
schedules of physical examinations. Recommendations" "Orthopedics" "Sororities"
"Health Reports" Contents include records of student hospitilazations, testing of milk
and water samples, reports on communicable diseases, state-wide polio statistics.
"Rest Assignment Reports" [Students unable to participate in Physical Education classes
were assigned to "Rest."] Contents include reports on who was assigned rest, and
why.
"University Health Service" Contents include reports on water and milk sample testing,
examinations of food handlers, etc.
"Width-Height Tables" Contents include correspondence regarding a publication by the
medical director on correlation of stature and weight.
DEFINITIONS OF ABBREVIATIONS USED
ASHA American Student Health Association
NAAF National Amateur Athletic Federation
WAA Women's Athletic Association
The materials are arranged by accession.
Bunting, Helen Masters.
Guthrie, Luell W.
Henderson, Dorothy Heilman.
Stanford University--Athletics.
Stanford University. Physical Hygiene
Dept.
Stanford University. Women's Physical Education
Department.
Women's Student Health Service.
Photoprints.
Physical education for women.
Reprints.
Sports for women