This paper traces the history of the development of formal training for physical education teachers. The evolution of physical fitness training in American schools is discussed from its inception in the early 1800s, when the concept of the union of bodily health and academic achievement was first emphasized by German immigrants to the United…

Dudley A. Sargent, M.D., was Director of the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard University for 1879 to 1919. For the first ten years he was also an Assistant Professor of Physical Training. In 1889, President Eliot recommended that Dr. Sargent be promoted to full professor. In an unprecedented action the Board of Overseers rejected Eliot's…

Mary E. Allen's contributions to gymnastics, exercise, and physical education are discussed. Basing her approach to physical education exercise on a sound knowledge of anatomy and physiology, Allen pressed for compulsory physical education in both school and society. (CJ)

In the early days of physical education, the value of physical fitness was associated with preparation for defense in wartime and preventive medicine. Physical fitness waned in importance in the period between the two World Wars, to become concommitant to other objectives of physical education. A resurgence in emphasis on fitness was triggered and…

The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education recognizes health as fundamental among the objectives of secondary education. The report contained in this bulletin was drafted for the commission by its committee on physical education, and after discussion and revision it has been approved by both the committee on physical education and…

In the face of widespread belief that women were unsuitable for physical education, Amy Morris Homans and Mary Hemenway founded the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics in 1889 to train female physical education teachers. Later, the school affiliated with Wellesley College and established a graduate program directed by Homans. (PP)

A century ago, Harvard University established a B.S. degree program in anatomy, physiology, and physical training. The paper examines the circumstances surrounding the program's inception and rapid demise, focusing on nineteenth-century interest in the subject and related developments at Harvard. (SM)

Effective physical education of the children of the elementary schools will always be conditioned largely upon the regular classroom teachers. Obviously physical education must have a large place in the preparation of teachers if they are to play well their part in the conservation of the physical resources of childhood. It must be recognized that…