Stanford University. Women's Physical Education Department.

Biographical/Historical note

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.

From the guide to the Stanford University, Women's Physical Education Department, records, 1928-1982, (Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives)