Senda Berenson Abbott - Boston Normal School of Gymnastics

Boston Normal School of Gymnastics

Mary Hemenway was a philanthropist in Boston who had many interests, both within Boston and elsewhere. She was the sponsor of the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition, the first major scientific archaeological expedition in the American southwest. She started many schools in the south after the civil war, and opened the first kitchen in a public school. In 1876, she donated $100,000 to save the Old South Meeting House, famous for the location of the organization of the Boston Tea Party.

In 1887, Hemenway started the Boston Normal School of Cooking. The following year, she provided instruction to one hundred Boston school teachers in a system of gymnastics education known as the Swedish system. At the time, the predominant form of physical education was a German style of gymnastics, with an emphasis on strength training and competitiveness. In 1889, she arranged a conference on physical training, which had national influence on the course of physical education in schools. In that same year, Hemenway created the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. Later, the school would become Department of Hygiene and Physical Education at Wellesley College.

In 1867, at the age of nineteen, Amy Morris Homans went to the south to work in Reconstruction Era schools. There, she first met Mary Hemenway, who was funding many of these ventures. When Hemingway returned to Boston, Homans returned with her as her executive secretary. The 1889 conference on physical education funded by Hemenway was organized by Homans. The conference "is considered by most historians to be pivotal in the development of American physical education". When the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics was founded, Homans became the first Director.

Berenson learned about the School of Gymnastics from a friend, and decided to enroll, briefly, to improve her physical condition so that she could return to the Conservatory. However, there were two challenges. The entrance requirements included high school graduation or equivalent, and Berenson hadn't graduated from Boston Latin Academy. In addition, the entrants were expected to be in satisfactory physical condition, which was not the case. Berenson has met with Homans, and Homans took a liking to her. Homans felt that her physical condition could be improved, and the result might serve as a testament to the schools approach. Homans decided to take a chance, and admitted Berenson. The school offered a two-tear teacher training course, and a one year certificate course; Berenson enrolled in the one year program. The school drew faculty from several resources, including the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics, founded by Pehr Henrik Ling in Sweden, as well as faculty from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Psychology was taught by Harvard's Josiah Royce.

Berenson's start was inauspicious. Years, later she would exclaim "how I hated that school for the first few months!". She wasn't interested in the gymnastics work, as the exercises made her "ache all over". Early on, just standing erect for five minutes forced her to lie down, and she found she had to study lying on her back. She decided to give the exercises a "fair trial", and she saw improvement in three months. By the end of the year she was doing the prescribed two hours a day of exercise, and felt much better. Her brother was disappointed to hear that she had not returned to the Conservatory, but did not fully comprehend how much she had improved at the gymnastics school. Berenson decided to enroll at the school for a second year.