This gymnasium dress was worn for basketball and gymnastics at Radcliffe College by Edith Hall Plimpton, Class of 1896, and donated by her daughter Elizabeth Wright Plimpton ’29. Her black wool outfit emphasized coverage, from the chin-to-waist buttons on the bodice to the full sleeves ending in tight cuffs and the voluminous “divided skirt” that concealed every body contour.

This gymnasium dress is a powerful document in the College’s history. Early emphasis on physical activity at Radcliffe and other women’s colleges was a retort to the popular arguments of a male Harvard Medical School professor who warned that serious study might damage young women’s reproductive capacities. Advocates for women’s education replied with vigorous health and fitness regimens.

Edith Hall Plimpton Papers, Schlesinger Library

Catalog record:

http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/010297928/catalog

Learn more:

Learn more about Radcliffe College by exploring the Radcliffe College Archives at the Library.

Explore the Schlesinger Library's exhibit It's Complicated: 375 Years of Women at Harvard.

Read about the Schlesinger Library's exhibit Playing Fair? Title IX at 45.

See the Schlesinger Library's research guides on fashion and on sports.

View videos of the Radcliffe Institute's 2017 conference, "Game Changers: Sports, Gender, and Society":

WELCOMING REMARKS Lizabeth Cohen, dean, Radcliffe Institute; Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Department of History, Harvard University WHO GETS TO PLAY? Donna A. Lopiano (15:22), president, Sports Management Resources; former chief executive officer, Women's Sports Foundation Anita L.

GENDER, SPORTS, AND HEALTH/WELLNESS Brian Hainline (6:34), senior vice president, Sports Science Institute; chief medical officer, National Collegiate Athletic Association; clinical professor of neurology, NYU School of Medicine and Indiana University School of Medicine Travis T. Tygart (20:42), chief executive officer, US Anti-Doping Agency Parissa Safai (37:55), associate professor, Faculty of Health, York University Moderated by Cheri A.

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION Laila Ali (5:18), four-time undefeated super-middleweight boxing world champion, fitness and wellness expert, and author Christine Brennan (7:00), national sports columnist, USA Today; commentator, ABC News, CNN, PBS NewsHour, and NPR's Morning Edition; author Introduction by Yukio Lippit, Johnson-Kulukundis Family Faculty Director of the Arts, Radcliffe Institute; professor of history of art and architecture, Harvard University AUDIENCE Q&A (39:43)

GENDER, MEDIA, AND POPULAR CULTURE Michael Messner (7:18), professor of sociology and gender studies, University of Southern California Rachael Miyung Joo (24:30), assistant professor of American studies, Middlebury College Kavitha A.

Watch video of the 2016 panel that discussed how gender affects the ways athletes are represented and how sports are promoted:

Sports permeate our society. From the inspiring to the infuriating, athletes and teams have a broad reach. This conversation of experts from business, journalism, and academia looks at the extent of such influence and illuminates the connections among sports, marketing, and gender.

Objects

Edith Hall Plimpton’s gymnasium suit, 1896