Overview
- Mount Allison institutions
- Early town-gown sports
- Code of honour
- Victorian values
- New Woman
- Foundation
Victorian Values
Women at Mount Allison did not participate in competitive team sports until the early 1900s. Those who may have wished to compete in sports were hindered by voluminous clothing and restrictive Victorian values that drew a connection between manliness, morality and sport.
The Victorians believed that a woman's primary function was to be a mother and wife, who was strong physically, morally and mentally, and who could uphold traditional family values. Although females were encouraged to exercise (but not compete), it was only so that they could better fulfill their duties for motherhood and marriage.
Opportunities for women to exercise at Mount Allison existed through curricular activities such as calisthenics, light gymnastics and walking, and also through extra-curricular pursuits such as tobogganing, snowshoeing and skating. Field games such as croquet and archery were also played, especially between 1875 and 1885, but these demanded little, if any, physical exertion among the students and competition would have been slight.
Early attempts by women at Mount Allison to form their own sports teams were few and short-lived. A baseball team was formed in 1888 but lasted only one semester, and suggestions for a cricket team in 1885 and a rugby football team in 1894 did not materialize.
Mt. Allison Ladies' College, students and faculty, between 1886 and 1890
"The Snow-Shoe Girl," by Mount Allison fine arts student Levi J. Mattall, 1903
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Sackville, New Brunswick
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This project was funded by the Marjorie Young Bell Endowment Fund