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The EAPECW had its genesis in 1910 when Amy Morris Homans, director of physical training at Wellesley College, called together women directors of physical training and heads of athletic associations in New England Colleges for an informal meeting. After four years of these gatherings, in 1915 the group officially formed as the Association of Directors of Physical Education for College Women to "discuss the problems of organization and administration of departments of physical education in colleges, and by definite cooperation, study, experiment, and research work, broaden the scope and increase the usefulness of such departments." At this time, physical education was a relatively new addition to the college curriculum and these women met to share ideas and information and collaboratively establish policies for the emerging discipline and its professionals. Membership was limited to directors of physical education in four-year accredited colleges and universities with appropriate facilities for physical education.
At annual meetings, papers and reports were presented and roundtable discussions held on a wide variety of topics to do with the administration of college departments and curriculum; status, pay, benefits, and retirement programs for physical education faculty; and various aspects of hygiene and physical and mental health including anthropometric testing of college students.
Margaret Paulding, Eastern Association
for Physical Education of College
Women Merit Award winner, 1970.
Similar associations were formed in the midwest and the west and in 1923 the regional groups voted to affiliate as the National Association of Directors of Physical Education for Women in Colleges and Universities. The EAPECW became known as the Eastern Society of that Association.
In 1941, directors of physical education in selected junior colleges were admitted to membership in the association. Physical education faculty and staff who were not department directors were permitted to join as associate members in 1946 and as full voting members in 1948. The name of the organization was changed to Eastern Association for Physical Education of College Women at that time.
With the expansion of its membership, the EAPECW entered a second stage. Now part of an established profession, the Association ran conferences that focused less on departmental organization and more on the latest trends in physical education. The Association ran a speakers bureau and job referral service through its Personnel Committee and wrote a promotional brochure to interest high school students in the profession.
The 1960s and 1970s brought many changes to physical education. Women's participation came to be considered appropriate in an ever-expanding array of sports, college physical education requirements were abandoned along with many other academic requirements, men's and women's physical education departments merged, athletics (particularly intercollegiate athletics) saw increased emphasis in the curriculum, and the passage of Title IX set the stage for full participation of women in college athletics. All of these changes meant not only many more options for women in sport, but many more organizations for women physical educators. As physical educators became more specialized, their interests and energy shifted toward more specialized organizations and EAPECW's membership declined.
After lengthy discussion and study, as well as a needs assessment survey by a professional consulting firm, the EAPECW voted to dissolve at its June 1992 meeting "in order to preserve the history and integrity of EAPECW...rather than let it fade to insignificance."
As its legacy, the EAPECW established an endowment to support the Margaret Paulding Lecture Series. The Paulding lecture is given each year at the convention of the Eastern District Association (EDA) of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) by a woman in higher education who has made a strong contribution to the physical education profession.
The records of the EAPECW provide substantial information about the establishment and development of physical education as a profession and as an academic discipline through most of the twentieth century.
The records consist of 13 linear feet of correspondence; minutes; reports; publications; programs; membership, committee, and officer lists; memorabilia; photographs and other papers relating to the history and activities of the organization. They date from circa 1910 to 1995 with the bulk of the materials from the period between the late 1950s and 1992 when the Association voted to disband. Significant information about the organization's early years is available in the records of meetings and conferences (in Series VIII), in the files on membership eligibility (in Series V), in files of some committees (in Series VI--see especially Expectancy Standards Commmittee, Research and Studies Committee, and Test Committee), and in newsletters (in Series X). Much more detailed information about the organization's prime years and its gradual decline is available throughout the records. The decision to disband is chronicled primarily in the records of the Executive Board (Series III).
Related materials can be found in the Sophia Smith Collection in the records of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW), the Massachusetts Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW), the Physical Education Collection, and in the Smith College Archives in the Dorothy Sears Ainsworth Papers, the Senda Berenson Papers, and in the Records of the Smith College Department of Physical Education.
This collection is organized into nine series:
All material is open to research according to the rules of the Sophia Smith Collection.
The copyright owner of unpublished works in this collection is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Eastern Association for Physical Education of College Women Records, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, MA
The records of the EAPECW were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection between 1975 and 1995 through the efforts of Beverly J. Becker (EAPECW President in 1975), Joyce Wechsler (EAPECW President in 1992) and Sharon L. Crow (EAPECW Treasurer in 1995).
Processed by Maida Goodwin, 1996.
Related materials can be found in the Sophia Smith Collection in the records of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW), the Massachusetts Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW), the Physical Education Collection, and in the Smith College Archives in the Dorothy Sears Ainsworth Papers, the Senda Berenson Papers, and in the Records of the Smith College Department of Physical Education.
This series consists of historical summaries and narrative histories, memorabilia, necrology records, and information about the EAPECW's own records dating from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. The histories were produced for Association anniversaries and as regular reports to the membership of EAPECW and the National Association for Physical Education of College Women (NAPECW). The necrology records are memorial tributes and obituaries for EAPECW members. The materials are arranged with the historical materials first, followed by the memorabilia, and information about the EAPECW records.
This series consists of material related to the organization and administration of the EAPECW. Included are articles of incorporation, constitutions, and by laws of the EAPECW and operating procedures for Association officers and committees; summary lists of officers and committee chairs, policies of the Association, and the Association's position statement on Title IX of the Education Act of 1972. Also included are records related to the incorporation of the EAPECW in 1969 and its certification by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization. Job responsibilities of officers and committee responsibilities are detailed in the Operations Books and Operating Code and Job Analysis. The bulk of the material dates from the late 1950s through the 1980s.
This series consists of records created and maintained by the Executive Board including policies; rosters; meeting agendas and minutes; correspondence and reports; and a needs assessment survey of EAPECW membership commissioned by the Board in 1990. The material is arranged with general material about the Executive Board followed by meeting records, then correspondence followed by reports. The needs assessment survey constitutes the final portion of the series.
This series consists of summary budget materials and periodic financial reports arranged in chronological order. Summary budget materials are arranged chronologically and there is one folder containing blank reimbursement forms.
This series is primarily EAPECW membership rosters dating from 1933 to 1992. The rosters are followed by material related to eligibilty for membership dating from the 1920s to 1940 when the Association began to expand its membership beyond directors of physical education in four-year colleges. The final section of the series is a folder of blank membership application forms dating from 1946 to 1992.
This series consists primarily of committee reports both to the Executive Board and to EAPECW membership. They are arranged alphabetically by committee name. The bulk of the material dates from the late 1950s to 1992 when EAPECW disbanded. More extensive records have survived from some committees. These include the Constitution, Expectancy Standards, Honorary Membership/Merit Award, Legislation, Nominating, Personnel, Publications, Research and Studies, and Test Committees.
This series consists of one folder on professional seminars conducted for the EAPECW by Spectrum Consultants in the mid-1980s and material on the Margaret Paulding Lecture Series.
This series is divided into three sections: Annual Business Meeting, General, and Conference Tapes. The Annual Business Meeting section consists of agendas and minutes, 1939-92. The General section consists of conference and meeting programs, proceedings, mailings, and correspondence, circa 1910-92. A sampling of one year per decade of local arrangements records was retained for the period for which such records survived, the 1960s to 1990s. Conference Tapes consists of reel-to-reel and cassette tapes of significant portions of the 1958, 1959, and 1960 conferences and smaller portions of conferences in 1965, 1967, and 1990. All three sections are arranged chronologically.
This series consists of correspondence with a variety of associations of physical educators as well as reports to the National Association for Physical Education of College Women, EAPECW's umbrella organization. The material is arranged alphabetically by name of organization.
This series contains EAPECW brochures, published business report/newsletters, and general EAPECW newsletters. The materials are arranged by type and then chronologically.
This series consists primarily of committee reports both to the Executive Board and to EAPECW membership. They are arranged alphabetically by committee name. The bulk of the material dates from the late 1950s to 1992 when EAPECW disbanded. More extensive records have survived from some committees. These include the Constitution, Expectancy Standards, Honorary Membership/Merit Award, Legislation, Nominating, Personnel, Publications, Research and Studies, and Test Committees.