Physical education was first taught at a school in Canada by Henry Goodwin, who in 1853 was appointed to Egerton Ryerson's teacher-training institution, the Toronto Normal and Model School. [1] Eleven years later physical education was also taught to students of the Mount Allison's Ladies' College.
Mount Allison was among the first private schools in Canada to offer physical education for females. Soon after the Female Branch of the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy (later known as the Ladies' College) opened in 1854, a small gymnasium was constructed next to the main college buildling. In 1864 [2] the Ladies' College engaged its first instructor in calisthenics, Julia A. Goodhue [3], who was replaced two years later by Mary E. Pickard. [4] Both instructors also taught mathematics at the Ladies' College.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/18. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
The gymnasium was built so that the female students could practice calisthenics. The 1864 General Circular for the Ladies' College explained:
"A regular course of Calisthenics, comprehending all the movements required to develop every part of the muscular frame, is practised as a part of school duty, no more to be neglected than a recitation, without sufficient reason." [5]
The students were expected to be fit for the strenuous demands of studying and for the life-long tasks of motherhood and family caretaking. The 1864 General Circular put it this way:
"... it is constantly kept in view that perfect health is indispensable to success in study, as well as in all the after pursuits of life." [6]
Following the departure of the instructor of calisthenics Mary E. Pickard in 1869, there were no physical education instructors on staff [7] at the Ladies' College until 1888. In 1887 Gertrude King joined the Ladies' College faculty as mathematics instructor [8], and by 1888 she led a calisthenics class. [9] The 15 members of the class gave a semi-private demonstration of their exercises on 18 February 1888. William Seaman, a student at the University, wrote to his mother about the event:
"The Calisthenics class of the Sem. gave an exhibition tonight in their Gym. There are 15 members and each had their choice of asking some young gent. from the Coll. An oyster supper is to follow..." [10]
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/170 (detail). May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/167. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/168. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
In 1892 "physical culture" was introduced to students of the Ladies' College by the instructor of elocution L. Jean Landers. Her program was based on the model established at the Emerson College of Oratory in Boston, Massachusetts, where the physical culture program originated. [11] The new physical culture program replaced calisthenics and became a requirement for Ladies' College students by 1893. [12] The Saint John Telegraph newspaper (29 May 1895) explained the new system:
"... exercises are chosen with a view to giving both health and grace to the body. Beginning with gentle movements, the exercises gradually increase in strength until every muscle is brought in play, yet always gracefully, and never with undue violence. Special attention is given to the arm and chest movement." [13]
Landers taught physical culture until 1895. [14] From 1895 to December 1901, Louise C. Webster, who was trained at the Emerson College of Oratory, continued Landers' work as both elocution and physical culture instructor. [15]
Picture taken inside Beethoven Hall, Conservatory of Music. One person identified: Lilian B. Johnson, sitting, playing piano.
Mount Allison University Archives, Raymond Clare Archibald fonds, accession 5501/9/2/1, page 13, photograph 2 of 2 . May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
People, left-right, top row: Boal, Malina; Benedict, Sallie; Borden, Maud; Bowles, Sybil; Lewin, Bessie; Middle row, left-right: Longworth, Marian; [unidentified]; Wright, Mary; [unidentified]; Thompson, Nan; Front row, left-right: Mathers, Ella; [unidentified]; [unidentified].
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/136. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
The physical culture drill continued the annual calisthenics demonstrations held by the Ladies' College since 1888 and became a staple of Mount Allison's closing ceremonies. The performances were held inside Beethoven Hall (1892-1895) [16, 17], on the lawn east of Owen's Art Gallery [18] (1896-1904) [19], and finally on the lawn next to the recently excavated Ladies' College Park pond, known today as the Swan Pond (1905- ) [20]. The drills became known commonly as lawn drills.
Each year the number of participants increased: 26 (1892) [21], 50 (1895) [22], 100 (1905) [23], and nearly 200 (1911) [24]. All participants were dressed in white [25] and performed their drill to piano accompaniment [26], often to large numbers of spectators. Clementina Pickard (Class of 1914) recalled as a child seeing the physical culture drill in 1906:
"All the girls in the Ladies' College had to take physical culture class and at closing all marched down, their long white dresses trailing in the grass, to the drill court which was down near the pond where they went through their calisthenics. In the end they would flutter their hands and that always brought "Ohs" from the crowd, who stood all over the hill." [27]
Buildings, left-right: Owens Art Gallery, Centennial Hall, Hose House, Barn (located behind President's Cottage), Borden Hall.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/117. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
View looking northeast over Ladies' College Park toward Main Street. Joseph F. Allison House in background.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/134. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Donald F. Taylor fonds, accession 7601/2/4. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
For sixty years calisthenics, light gymnastics, physical culture and military drill were the only forms of physical exercise in the Mount Allison Ladies' College curriculum. In 1916 that changed with the creation of the Department of Physical Training and Physiology [28] and the hiring of a new teacher, E. Winnifred Briggs. [29] A graduate of the Sargent School of Physical Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts [30], Briggs introduced team sports such as field hockey and volleyball [31].
Photograph taken inside Lingley Hall gymnasium.
Mount Allison University Archives, L. Gerard Johnson collection, accession 8915/1. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
View looking northwest toward Salem Street. Buildings, left-right: Baxter House; Sprague House; Centennial Hall.
Mount Allison University Archives, Hilda G. Simms McNutt fonds, accession 2003.04/3/2. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives.
[1] A Concise History of Sport in Canada, by Don Morrow and Mary Keyes, 1989, p .73
[2] Postcard note to R.C. Archibald from J. R. Inch, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/7, p. 49 (“... 1864 or 1865, when regular calisthenic exercises were first instituted by Julia A. Goodhue”); Allisonia, vol. I, no. 1, Nov. 1903, "Elocution," p. 12 (“... it was not until 1865 that the building [gymnasium] was plastered and regular calisthenic exercises first introduced. Miss Julia A. Goodhue was the instructor”)
[3] Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy Catalogue and General Circular, 1864, "Female Branch - Faculty," p. 21: "Miss Julia A. Goodhue, Teacher of Mathematics, Calisthenics, &c."
[4] Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy Catalogue and General Circular, 1866, "Female Branch, 1866-7," p. 21
[5] Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy, Catalogue and General Circular, 1864, "Branch Institution for Females," p. 34
[6] Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy, Catalogue and General Circular, 1864, "Branch Institution for Females," p. 34
[7] As indicated in the faculty lists of the annual Ladies’ College calendars
[8] Catalogue of the Mount Allison Wesleyan Ladies' College, 1887-88, "Board of Instruction," p. 4: "Miss Gertrude King, Mathematics". Note: first listed as calisthenics (and mathematics) instructor in Catalogue of the Mount Allison Wesleyan Ladies' College and Conservatory of Music, 1890-91, p. 4
[9] [Moncton] Times, May 30, 1888, "Mount Allison," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 64 [says 54] (“Lately a department of physical education has had a prominent place in the course of instruction in the Ladies' College.”); also see next footnote
[10] Mount Allison University Archives, William Seaman fonds, accession 9114/2/69, letter from William Seaman to mother, Feb. 18, 1888
[11] Argosy, vol. XXII, no. 2, Nov. 1892, "Physical Culture in the Ladies' College, pp. 16-17
[12] Argosy, vol. XXIII, no. 3, Dec. 1893, "Ladies' College Notes," p. 13
[13] Telegraph, May 29, 1895, "Mt. Allison Institutions," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 9
[14] Allisonia, vol. II, no. 4, May 1905, “Our Teachers, 1854-1904,” p. 191
[15] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 1, “Elocution,” p. 12
[16] Chignecto Post and Borderer, Jun. 2, 1892, "Calisthenics," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, [somewhere before p. 54]; Programme, Anniversary Exercises, 1893, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 15
[17] Programme, Anniversary Exercises, 1895, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 5
[18] Catalogue of the Mount Allison Ladies' College, Owen's Art Institution and Conservatory of Music, 1902-1903, Sackville, N.B., 1902, [plate following] p. 34 (picture of Physical Culture Drill on top of two tennis courts on east side of Owen's Art Gallery)
[19] Mount Allison University Archives, Spring Convocation Programmes, 1843-1913, Ladies’ College Anniversary Exercises programme, 1896 (says “College Lawn: Physical Culture Drill”). Note: Programme from previous year said Beethoven Hall.
[20] [Saint John] Globe, May 29, 1905, "Sackville News" (says physical culture drill held for first time on lawn below Ladies’ College)
[21] Chignecto Post and Borderer, Jun. 2, 1892, "Calisthenics," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, [somewhere before p. 54]
[22] Wesleyan, May 30, 1895, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 12
[23] [Saint John] Globe, May 29, 1905, "Sackville News"
[24] [Sackville] Tribune, May 29, 1911, "Closing Exercises at Mount Allison," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/12, p. 67
[25] [for example] Allisonia, vol. X, no. 4, Jun. 1913, "Closing Notes," pp. 126-141: (of the physical culture drill, "The costumes were white shirtwaist shirts with negligee collars and fresh green Windsor ties.")
[26] Chignecto Post and Borderer, Jun. 2, 1892, "Calisthenics," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, [somewhere before p. 54]; Catalogue of the Mount Allison Ladies' College, Owen's Art Institution and Conservatory of Music, 1902-1903, Sackville, N.B., 1902, [plate following] p. 34 (picture of Physical Culture Drill on top of two tennis courts on east side of Owen's Art Gallery); [Saint John] Globe, May 29, 1905, "Sackville News"
[27] Mount Allison University Archives, interview with Celementina Moore Pickard Godfrey, at Mount Allison, 13 July 1971, conducted by Dr. George F.G. Stanley, transcript, 15 pp., located in Mount Allison Archives biography files
[28] Catalogue of the Mount Allison Ladies' College, 1918-19, pp. 67-8
[29] Mount Allison Record, vol. I, no. 2, Jan. 1917 [says 1916], p. 2
[30] Mount Allison Record, vol. I, no. 2, Jan. 1917 [says 1916], p. 2
[31] Argosy, vol. XLII, no. 1, Oct. 1916, "Locals," p. 60