A ‘marked success’: physical activity at Miss White’s School

Abstract

This article examines the career of Flora White, who operated a school for girls in Concord, Massachusetts (USA) from 1897 to 1914. The school promoted individualised learning and physical activity for young women. Its programme of female exercise and sports ran counter to prevailing scholarly, medical, and popular opinion in the US. White faced challenges resulting from the feminisation of teaching and advance of industrialisation. The preponderance of female teachers raised concerns about a shortage of male role models for boys; these concerns intensified as fathers left farms for factory work. Participation in sports was regarded as the best way to compensate for perceived role model deficits and sedentary lifestyles, and athletics became contextualised in masculine terms. Nevertheless, White’s accomplishments are evident in the successes of her students and in her impact on US educational institutions and organisations.

Keywords:

• women
• teaching
• athletics
• sports
• education
• industrialisation

Notes

1. Afrikaners customarily placed a definite article before the name of their town, Paarl.