Science, Medicine, and the Concept of Health

1
Science, Medicine, and the Concept of Health

• The Theoretical and Professional Development of
  Physical Education in the United States, 1885-1930

2
Introduction to the 19th Century Concept of Health

• Health was one of the major concerns of 19th
  Century Americans and Europeans
• Health was the subject of books, subjects,
  lectures, articles and pamphlets
• Not surprising, when we consider the routine
  occurrence of disease
• Americans cities were ravaged by cholera, typhus,
  typhoid, scarlet fever, influenza, diphtheria,
  smallpox, measles, yellow fever and whooping cough

3
Introduction to the 19th Century Concept of Health

• Illnesses such as tuberculosis (consumption) were
  common
• The state of medical knowledge during the 19th
  Century was poor
• As a result, physicians and other healers were
  not very effective in treating disease

4
The population of Manhattan grew from 60,000
people in 1800 to 2,300,000 people in 1900 The
rapid growth of the city along with the density
of the population led to very unhealthy living
conditions, particularly among the poor and the
immigrants Below is a list of epidemics that
struck New York City in the 19th Century
1805 Yellow Fever 1819 Yellow Fever 1822
Yellow Fever 1832 Cholera 1834 Cholera 1847
Typhus 1848-1849 Cholera
1854 Cholera 1862 Typhus 1865-1873 Smallpox
1866 Cholera 1881 Typhus 1882 Typhus 1892
Cholera
5
1832 hand bill from the New York City Board of
Health. The outdated public health advice
demonstrates the lack of understanding of the
disease and its actual causative factors
6
Case of smallpox 1896
7
St. Vincents Hospital, 1849
8
Bellevue Hospital Ambulance, 1895
9
Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans
10
From John M. Woodworth, The Cholera Epidemic of
1873 in the United States, 1875
11
Deck passengers usually outnumbered cabin
passengers three or four to one. The fares were
cheap but the comforts few without beds or
shelter, they found room among the cargo crates.
Diseases spread in such close quarters and were
carried to unsuspecting communities along the
steamers routes. The deck passengers in this
image are suffering from cholera, an epidemic
that spread along the Mississippi in 1873.
12
Cholera outbreaks
Immigrants moving west in the1800s brought with
them more than hopes and dreams. They brought
cholera. Cholera probably began in India and
spread around the world along trade routes.  It
first appeared in America in the 1800s. Many
western emigrants suffered from the dreaded
disease. 
13
Cholera outbreaks
Various indigenous tribes who came in contact
with these newcomers suffered major losses to
their population. Cholera rarely spread from
person to person but through the contamination of
water sources. The "west" had its first taste of
the disease in 1832. Immigrant ships destined for
Canada, carried the disease up the St. Lawrence
River. From there, the cholera traveled down Lake
Champlain and west by canal boat from Albany to
Buffalo. In a short time it reached troopers at
Jefferson Barracks outside St. Louis.
14
Cholera outbreaks
Wintering each year in the Deep South, in the
spring the disease would join the emigrants
heading west. Cholera made its way up the
Missouri on riverboats. An outbreak on board the
Yellowstone in July 1833 turned it into a
floating death trap. One of the few survivors,
Joseph La Barge, later recalled that just below
Kansas City he buried eight victims in one grave.
Fear of an epidemic caused Missouri residents in
Jackson County to threaten to destroy the ship.
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16
Victims of cholera, Union Cemetery, Shawnee County
17
1892 hospital ward, cholera outbreak in Hamburg,
Germany
18
Cholera disinfection team, Hamburg, Germany, 1892
19
Introduction to the 19th Century Concept of Health

• In the 19th Century, a dialogue began between
  physicians and physical educators over the
  relationship between mind and body with regard to
  health
• Medical knowledge was based on the idea that
  health consisted of a balanced constitution
  (body) and temperament (mind and spirit)

20
Introduction to the 19th Century Concept of Health

• Known as humoral medicine, medical diagnoses and
  treatment of illnesses consisted of heroic
  procedures, many of which resulted in tragic
  consequences for the patient
• Treatments included bleeding, leeching, and
  cupping. Large doses of medicine were
  administered that included such toxic substances
  as arsenic, strychnine, emetics, and mercurial
  compounds

21
Lithograph showing leeching of a patient, date
unknown National Library of Medicine, Bethesda
MD
22
19th Century cupping set
23
Introduction to the 19th Century Concept of Health

• In addition to these invasive methods of purging
  the body, medical experts believed that the
  mind could predispose the body to disease
• Health was believed to be of a moral character
  such attributes as diligence, hard work,
  integrity, honesty, and right action
• The belief that a healthy mind resided in a
  healthy body was the foundation of what
  constituted health

24
Although Louis Pasteurs germ theory of disease
was proposed in 1860, it was not widely accepted
by medical professionals until the end of the
19th Century. Pasteur was able to demonstrate
that organisms such as bacteria were responsible
for souring wine and beer (he later extended his
studies to prove that milk was the same), and
that the bacteria could be removed by boiling and
then cooling the liquid. This process is now
called pasteurisation.
Pasteur then undertook experiments to find where
these bacteria came from, and was able to prove
that they were introduced from the environment.
25
Orthodox Medicine

• Physicians have not always been considered the
  guardians of health
• Absence of educational standards
• Depending on which region of the country you
  lived in, your physician could have been credible
  or abysmal standards for professional licensure
  as a doctor varied greatly around the country
• Cure rate of doctors during this era was poor,
  and Americans began taking steps to take care of
  their health and well-being

26
Alternatives to Orthodox Medicine

• Numerous health and hygiene reforms emerged, many
  of which attempted to merge moral and social
  reform with health promotion
• Vegetarianism blended current theories of
  chemical vitalism with Christian morality
• Homeopathy attempted to restore the bodys
  balance with small doses of medicine (in contract
  to heroic dosing used by traditional physicians)

27
Alternatives to Orthodox Medicine

• Chemotherapy (chemical treatments)
• Electropathy (electrical treatment)
• Hydropathy (water cures)
• Thomsonianism (created by Samuel Thomson)

28
Thomsonianism, created by American Samuel
Thomson, claimed every person could be his own
physician. Based on herbs and spices.
29
Thomson hawked books, pamphlets, botanical
preparations, and Thomsonian medical credentials.
30
Social and Institutional Changes in 19th Century
America

• By the end of the 19th Century, the exclusive
  professional authority once given to orthodox
  physicians (as well as to lawyers and clergy) was
  gone forever
• New disciplines were developed to house the
  evolving bodies of knowledge
• These new disciplines created additional ways of
  knowing that would augment and sometimes replace
  older philosophies

31
Social and Institutional Changes in 19th Century
America

• Some of these new disciplines found a home in the
  American university system
• Prior to 19th century, universities focused on
  the liberal arts (literature, language, history
  and philosophy)
• During the 19th century, American universities
  began to cater to career-oriented students
• During the 1880s and 1890s, young professionals
  created communities of academic interest through
  professional associations

32
Social and Institutional Changes in 19th Century
America

• American Historical Association (1884)
• American Economic Association (1885)
• National Statistical Society (1888)
• American Political Science Assoc (1889)
• American Neurological Association (1875) was one
  of many subdisciplinary groups
• American Association for the Advancement of
  Physical Education (1885)

33
AAAPE

• On November 27, 1885, William G. Anderson MD
  invited 49 people to discuss their interest in PE
• Discussed the Battle of the Systems German
  gymnastics vs Swedish gymnastics
• Some physical educators, such as Catherine
  Beecher and Dioclesian Lewis incorporated
  exercises that were not identified with either
  system
• Beecher and Lewis devoted their efforts to
  promoting health and exercise for women

34
Catherine Beecher (1800-1878) developed a PE
curriculum that included 26 lessons in physiology
and two courses in calisthenics, one designed for
school and the other to be used in exercise
halls. Her system used light exercises,
sometimes performed with the use of light weights.
In 1864, Dioclesian Lewis hired Beecher to teach
at his school for girls in Lexington,
Massachusetts.
35
The Theoretical Basis of American Physical
Education

• Interest in health, hygiene, exercise and
  physical education had been growing in America
  since the 1830s
• Theoretical base of early American PE was derived
  from a variety of sources
• Experimental science (anatomy and physiology) and
  medicine were important
• Theory base was also influenced by middle class
  cultural values, and the 19th century reform
  movements

36
Theoretical Framework of American PE developed
through three distinct periods

• 1885-1900 19th century beliefs that viewed
  health as a balance/harmony between mind, body
  and spirit
• 1900-1917 PE was engaged in a debate regarding
  the appropriate methods and goals of the field
• 1917-1930 Acceptance by PE of psychosocial and
  behavioristic principles as a major part of its
  theoretical foundation

37
Changing Concepts of Health

• By 1900, the 19th century concepts of health as a
  balance between mind, body and will became
  inappropriate and impossible to sustain in the
  face of new biological and medical evidence
• The understanding of germs and their connection
  to disease undermined the idea that health is a
  balance of mind, body and will
• One of the products of the health reform movement
  was the creation of career opportunities in the
  practice of PE gymnasium directors, physical
  training instructors, playground leaders, and
  hygiene teachers

38
The Professional Preparation of PE Teachers

• Normal Schools were one or two-year schools
  that teacher preparation schools, popular before
  World War 1
• Until the 1890s, normal schools were the only
  programs for training physical educators
• Sargent Normal School of Physical Education
  lengthened to two years in 1891 and merged with
  Boston University in 1902 to become the Sargent
  College of Physical Education

39
Old State Normal School, Albany NY
40
The Professional Preparation of PE Teachers

• YMCA International Training School, later renamed
  Springfield College, est in 1887
• Offered a two-year course in professional PE,
  which enabled the YMCA to staff its gymnasiums
  with qualified teachers
• Luther Halsey Gulick, MD, was appointed as an
  instructor in 1887 and was the YMCAs first
  secretary of the Physical Training Department of
  the International Committee of the YMCA of North
  America

41
Luther Halsey Gulick, 1865 - 1918
42
Luther Halsey Gulick, MD

• Started a summer school course for the training
  of PE teachers who were already in the field
• The first graduate course work in PE was started
  in 1891
• Courses offered in physiological psychology,
  history and philosophy of PE, and literature of
  PE
• Three men completed the work necessary for a
  diploma (not a degree) between 1891 and 1900

43
Chautauqua Summer School (NY)

• Founded in 1896, offered teacher preparation
  (normal school) program in gymnastics, playground
  supervision and management, first aid, sport
  skills, and aquatics instruction
• Classroom instruction was given in anatomy,
  physiology, psychology, medical gymnastics,
  orthopedics, Swedish and German gymnastics, and
  storytelling

44
Staff and students of the first PE class at the
Chautauqua School, 1896
45
Dudley Sargent operated the Harvard Summer School
of Physical Education, which he opened in 1887.
46
Harvard Summer School

• Probably the most important source of
  professional training in the United States during
  the early part of the 20th century alumni
  totaled 5,086
• Coursework consisted of anatomy, physiology,
  hygiene, and lectures on various gymnastic
  systems, including their history and philosophy
• Closed in 1932 because a bachelors degree was
  required by the state to teach PE, which forced
  potential educators into a four-year program

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Hemenway Gymnasium
The original Hemenway Gymnasium was the finest
physical education facility ever created. It
contained every manner of physical training
equipment climbing ladders, tumbling mats,
climbing ropes, flying rings, barbells,
dumbbells, indian clubs, medicine balls... even
early strength building "machines" (which you may
be able to see on the left if you look
closely.)There was a running track, handball
courts and rooms for fencing, wrestling, boxing
and any other imaginable physical activity. At
the head of this fantastic facility was Dudley
Allen Sargent, who virtually founded the
discipline of physical education.
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PE in California

• Always a leader in curriculum reform and
  innovation, California passed a state law in 1866
  requiring PE in schools
• The 1860s was a period in the history of America
  that evoked concern about the nations youth
  relative to their physical condition and ability
  to use arms in defense of the country
• Most educators favored military drills, not
  gymnastics, in the schools

51
PE in other states

• Ohio passed a law in 1892 requiring PE in the
  states larger schools modified the law in 1904
  to include smaller schools
• Other states that passed laws requiring PE
  included Louisiana (1894), Wisconsin (1897) and
  North Dakota (1899)
• As a result, the professional preparation of PE
  teachers was at the top of the political and
  professional agenda

52
Wand drills were an important part of PE program
activities in the 1890s
53
PE in universities

• Four-year PE programs were introduced at Stanford
  (1892), Harvard (1892), University of California
  (1898), University of Nebraska (1899), Oberlin
  (1900), and University of Wisconsin (1910)
• Many PE programs were placed within schools of
  education
• Some PE educators felt the standards within the
  profession remained weak
• Until 1919, there were no state licensure laws
  for a teaching specialty in PE

54
PE profession

• Until 1919, there were no state licensure laws
  for a teaching specialty in PE
• Without state licensure, teachers could claim a
  specialty in PE by taking a summer school course,
  a normal course that varied from one to three
  years, or a four year degree program
• Until standards could be developed and agreed
  upon, practitioners of PE were able to certify
  themselves with little, if any, professional
  instruction

55
PE in the 1920s

• Due to World War 1 and the poor physical
  condition of many of the nations men, interest
  in PE increased
• By 1921, there was compulsory public school PE in
  28 states
• By 1930, some type of certification was required
  for teaching in 38 states
• A four year program leading to a bachelors
  degree became the standard of training in the
  1920s

56
Toward the Reform of Physical Education,
1900-1939
57
Gymnastics/Calisthenics(19th Century)vs
Play/Games/Sports(20th Century)
58
Adoption of Sports Programs

• During early part of 20th Century, the American
  public was very interested in athletic
  competition
• Physical educators capitalized on this high
  interest in sports and began to reform their
  philosophy to accommodate sports into the
  curriculum
• By 1930, almost all of the instructional
  activities in PE were devoted to sports and
  intramural programs

59
How did this transformation come about?
60
Adoption of Sports Programs

• Prior to 1906, PE programs in colleges were
  administered by the faculty
• This was not the case with athletic competition,
  which was governed by athletic associations
  controlled by students and alumni
• There was no national governing body that oversaw
  intercollegiate athletic competition
• Students of questionable character enrolled on
  colleges just to play sports

61
Adoption of Sports Programs

• Faculty became outraged at these practices
• PE departments in some universities became
  partners in crime with the athletic departments
  to protect gifted athletes who depended on course
  work in PE to retain their eligibility
• Coaches of dubious character were hired to teach
  PE and coach the colleges sports teams

62
Adoption of Sports Programs

• Faculty finally achieved control over athletic
  competition by merging athletics and PE into a
  single entity
• Schools hired more athletic directors and coaches
  to teach PE and provided instruction in sports
• Increase in the number of PE programs, along with
  changes in how physical educators were
  academically prepared

63
Adoption of Sports Programs

• Philosophical shift away from the medical
  orientation of early PE preparation
• Physical educators no longer received their
  preparation in schools of medicine
• Instead, they were trained as educators and soon
  began to replace doctors in positions of
  leadership within the field
• Women dominated the ranks of physical educators
  men preferred to become coaches

64
Adoption of Sports Programs

• From 1900 to 1920, most PE programs did not offer
  course work in coaching
• In 1919, George Huff created the first degree
  program in coaching at the Univ of Illinois
• Other established universities soon developed
  similar programs to train coaches
• However, it was not necessary to have a college
  degree to coach in high school or college this
  would eventually undermine the profession of PE

65
George Huff 1872 1936 University of
Illinois Athletic Director, 1901-1935 Baseball
Coach, 1896-1919 Football Coach, 1895-1899
66
Adoption of Sports Programs

• Would the professional identity of PE be
  compromised by including serious athletic
  competition and coaches?
• Was the transformation of PE in the best
  interests of the profession?
• In the 1920s, most states had mandated that PE be
  taught in the schools
• As a result, colleges established PE departments
  where students could earn a degree and become
  employed

67
Adoption of Sports Programs

• At the college level, there was a lack of
  physical educators who could qualify for academic
  rank
• As a result, unqualified individuals were given
  administrative appointments as directors of PE
  programs
• A survey in 1929 found that out of 177 PE
  directors, only 23 had majored in PE only four
  had earned masters degrees in the field of
  education

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Adoption of Sports Programs

• Success as a football coach was the lone
  requirement for many of these directors
• Many physical educators were very concerned about
  the erosion of the profession caused by hiring
  unqualified individuals to provide instruction in
  PE
• The PE profession was forced to modify its
  philosophy and accommodate sports
• Jesse F. Williams convinced physical educators
  that it was the responsibility of the profession
  to make participation in competitive athletics an
  educational experience for students

69
Jesse Williams (1886-1966) Taught at teachers
college of Columbia. Stressed educational
values, social education, and education through
the physical. Became a dominate influence in
physical education
70
The Development of Play Theory1900-1915

• Perhaps the most powerful change that occurred in
  PE in the early 20th Century was the acceptance
  of play, games, dance and sport as methods for
  imparting educational goals
• Advocates of play as major component of PE
  included Herbert Spencer, Karl Groos, G. Stanley
  Hall, and Luther Halsey Gulick

71
Preeminent among educators and philosophers and
important to play theory was John Dewey
(1859-1952).
72
John Dewey

• Believed that education was necessary for
  democratic citizenship, social efficiency and
  social experience
• Considered mind and body to be integrated parts
  of the human whole, and believed that the body
  served as the conductor of experience
• Believed that play helped to integrate mind and
  body

73
John Dewey

• Play was important for its educational
  possibilities the ultimate of Deweys
  educational process was an individual who
  participated fully as a member of society
• These discussions may seem irrelevant to an
  understanding of PE, yet they justify new
  activities in PE
• Before Dewey, playful group activities such as
  football and baseball were considered poor
  choices to develop health and community

74
John Dewey

• The philosophy of Dewey and his colleagues was
  used to justify team sports in PE because they
  promoted democratic activities and social
  interaction
• The social benefits derived from participation in
  PE were significant and did much to insure strong
  support for PE and athletic programs

75
The Promotion of Play

• Physical educators viewed play with some
  ambivalence
• They felt it should have a secondary role in PE,
  rather than a primary role
• In 1889, Edward Hartwell wrote that the
  difference between sporting activities and
  gymnastics was the nature of the products the
  goal of sporting activities was recreation, while
  the goal of gymnastics was discipline, training
  for pleasure, health and skill.

76
Play and Popular Culture

• General public took an interest in play between
  1890 and 1900
• In 1886, sandgardens were built in Boston
• In 1889, Charlesbank Outdoor Gymnasium opened in
  Boston
• 1899, New York City opened several school
  playgrounds for recreational use
• In 1903, Chicago opened South Park Playgrounds
• In 1906, Playground Assoc of America was founded

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Playground, New York City - 1890
78
Carousel and playground in Golden Gate ParkSan
Francisco - 1890s
79
Seward Park The First Municipally Built
Playground in New York City When it opened on
October 17, 1903, Seward Park heralded a new era
in children's playgrounds in the city, becoming a
model for playground programming and design. The
facility in the north corner of the park featured
cinder surfacing, fences, recreation pavilion,
and play and gymnastic equipment.
80
Game of playground ball at Marshal Swenie
Playground, Chicago, 1907 - Polk Street east of
Halsted
81
Ashmead Park, Jamaica, June 1914, at Liberty
Avenue and 168th Street, it was discontinued as a
playground after being seen as a traffic hazard
another playground opened in 1914 in Forest Park
82
The Bronx St. Mary's Park, June 22, 1914 in
1914 eight playgrounds were opened in the Bronx
two in Crotona Park, and one each in St. Mary's,
Macomb's Dam, Claremont, Pelham Bay, Fulton and
Echo Parks (the one in St. Mary's Park was first
by about a week)
83
Playground, ca. 1910-1915
84
Play vs Gymnastics

• The popularity of play between 1900 and 1915 put
  advocates of gymnastics on the defensive
• Gymnastics diminished in popularity
• By 1915, play was the primary method of PE and
  gymnastics was used to correct posture problems

85
The New Physical Education1916-1930

• Post WW1 was characterized by the acceptance of
  social development objectives as a major part of
  the theoretical foundation of PE
• The three architects for the new physical
  education were Clark Hetherington, Thomas D.
  Wood, and Rosalind Cassidy

86
Clark Hetherington successfully integrated into
written form the new theoretical position of
physical education. His seminal work, School
Program in Physical Education, published in 1923,
provided the direction for the discipline early
in the 20th Century. Although there have been
semantic changes over the years, the conceptual
structure has remained unchanged.
87
Five Objectives in PE

• The organization of child life as expressed in
  big-muscle or physical training activities.
• The development of social adjustment skills based
  on the customs of society
• Developing latent powers and capacities
• The development of character
• To use big-muscle and fine motor movements to
  improve thinking

88
Even though there were dozens of playgrounds
across the city, it was not until 1926 that the
first equipped play area opened in Central Park.
At the south end, Heckscher Playground opened in
one of the three areas designated for play in the
original 1858 Greensward Plan for Central Park
(the other two being the current sites of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and the North Meadow).
The playground was an immediate success,
especially with children from outside the
immediate neighborhood.
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Playground in Aspinwall, PA 1930s
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Opening ceremonies at Sara D. Roosevelt
Playground, Sept 1934