SETTING THE PACE: Mr. Gunn and School Athletics in the 19th Century

SETTING THE PACE: Mr. Gunn and School Athletics th in the 19 Century

BY GUNN SCHOLAR QI XU ’15 2015

Vol. XIII

Setting the Pace: Mr. Gunn and Athletics in Schools in the 19th Century

By Gunn Scholar, Qi Xu ’15

2015 Gunn Scholar

QI XU

The Gunn Scholar Program The Gunn Scholar is a senior who has been selected, based on aptitude, interest, and character, to pursue original research into some aspect of the life and times of Frederick Gunn (1816-1881) and his wife Abigail, who founded the school in 1850.

By selecting The Gunn Scholar, the school community recognizes that this student has demonstrated, over the course of her academic years, those qualities of scholarship and character that the Gunns inscribed into the mission of the school. This program represents the concerted thought and planning of the history department. The Gunn Scholar will receive one credit in History. She will do original research in our archives and elsewhere on some aspect of the Gunn legacy.

This year’s Gunn Scholar, Qi (Jessica) Xu is researching the 19th century philosophical beginnings of the inclusion of physical fitness and sport in the curriculum of independent schools. Using letters and accounts in The Gunnery’s archives as well as pursuing leads in other archives and online, the scholar will investigate the rise of sport, both competitive and individual, both as a character-building endeavor (part of the muscular Christianity movement) and as an acceptable leisure outlet for cultured, educated adults.

In the equivalent of one full-time academic course—that is, two short periods and two long periods per week— the Gunn Scholar will: • Learn the techniques of original research and transcription, working closely with the archivist and a member of the history faculty • Prepare an account of her research o As a published, written document o As a public presentation to The Gunnery community o As a public presentation at the Gunn Museum History Bites Lecture series To provide a preliminary scholarly context, the Gunn Scholar will read among other things Muscles and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools and Master of the Gunnery, a biography of Frederick Gunn written by his students.

This year-long project is divided into three, roughly equal, parts: research—writing—public presentation, each intended to occupy a full term.

Paula Gibson Krimsky Archivist and School Historian

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

Title Page

II.

Author’s Page

III.

Program Description

IV.

Acknowledgements

V.

Introduction

VI.

Chapter I: Muscular Christianity: Where It All Starts

VII. Chapter II: Gunn and the Origin of Sports at The Gunnery VIII. Chapter III: Gunn and Other Headmasters: Different Attitudes towards Athletics

IX.

Chapter IV: Girls’ Boarding School: From Walking, Dancing to Organized

Sports

X.

Chapter V: College: Same Ideal, More Involvement

XI.

Conclusion

XII. Works Cited XIII. Appendix • Project Evaluation Paragraphs • Original Project Proposal

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for their help with my research process.

Mr. Tom Hollinger and Mrs. Paula Krimsky, Program Advisors Mr. Ed Surjan and Mrs. Sheila Kahn, The Gunnery Librarians Mr. Sean Brown, Director of Development Ms. Nanci Young, Archivist at Smith College Mr. Stephen Bartkus, Curator at the Gunn Museum Mr. Frank Callahan at Worcester Academy Ms. Laura Pearle, Director of Library Services, at Miss Porter’s Ms. Nancy Iannucci, Archivist & Librarian at Emma Willard School Ms. Jacqueline Haun, Archivist at The Lawrenceville School The Gunnery Class of 1957 My Family

Introduction

At eight o’clock in the morning, we, as a class, lined up on the track to do our 1000-meter run. Most times, teachers would join the run because they knew it was not easy for us to suddenly start an intense training. The morning run only lasted one month, until the sports exam. Also, that was almost all the exercise I did during my last year of middle school. Sports count as part of our high school entrance examination. I remember it was a really hot May Day when my class took the sports exam. During the exam, girls had to run 800 meters in 4 minutes 20 seconds, and boys had to run 1000 meters in about the same time. Aside from running, we also had to, for example, do a successful basketball layup in 18 seconds. We didn't have much practice until one month before the actual exam, because most physical education classes were replaced by classes like Chinese, math and sciences. I had friends who drank Red Bull on the morning of the exam day and almost passed out after the exam. Yes, this was my athletic experience in middle school. When I first came to The Gunnery, the athletic experience here shocked me with its intensity and the engagement among the students.

Here is my first month’s experience of sports at The Gunnery. I joined the field hockey team. At the end of the pre-season, I had to do a three-mile run. I spent hours thinking of excuses to skip it. However, of course, I was not able to escape. The painful running process is beyond my ability to describe. After pre-season, I had a serious conversation with my mom, wondering if I would be dead by the end of the season. However, I was surprised later by my improvement under the rigorous practice. I started to notice subtle changes that happened to me; for example, I was able to endure the freezing winter in Shanghai with fewer clothes. Not only physically, but mental differences also appeared. For example, I started to appreciate the value of persistence and teamwork.

After three years of active engagement with sports, I started to get curious about how athletics became a part of the culture at The Gunnery. What makes the school believe so deeply in what physical education can bring to its students? The answer, no doubt, lies in the founder of the school, Mr. Gunn. Meanwhile, thanks to my friends’ complaints, I also noticed that other boarding schools also take sports seriously, though not the same as The Gunnery. All of these led me to think

about the origin of this intense athletic emphasis. Were there any revolutionary ideas that caused the rise of sports? What was the philosophy behind athletic training? Was Mr. Gunn any different in his sports advocacy? Therefore, I am here to figure out my questions: what really led to the rise of school athletics in the 19th century and what role did Mr. Gunn play in it.

Qi Xu May 15, 2015

I. Muscular Christianity: Where It All Starts In the late 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain and eventually spread worldwide. This revolution not only brought modern technology to the British people, but also brought more leisure time for them since the technology saved a lot of time and energy. Also, with the Industrial Revolution, the wealth gap enlarged between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. People could grow extremely wealthy quickly; meanwhile, the poor had to work long hours in harsh conditions for the industries. Thus, moral issues emerged as the public became increasingly concerned about the consequences of the Industrial Revolution. The concerns were well reflected in contemporary literature. For example, Charles Dickens revealed his concerns about the social issues like abuses for industrial workers, education, the status of women, etc. in novels Hard Times (dickens. Stanford. edu). Therefore, Britain saw the necessity to maintain a moral standard in the face of Industrial Revolution while enjoying what technology brought them. This social circumstance contributed to the development of the idea of Muscular Christianity. The phrase “Muscular Christianity” first came from an English review of Charles Kingsley’s novel Two Years Ago in 1857 (Putney, 11). Kingsley himself was a Christian, more precisely, a clergyman, who emphasized the idea that the Englishmen were the chosen ones from God in his novel (Putney, 13). More importantly, the reason he believed that they were chosen was not only their “worshipfulness before God”, but also their quality of “manliness” (Putney, 13). One of the most ideal outcomes of athletic training is the trait of manliness, which Frederick Gunn, with other headmasters, believed would stimulate “physical, intellectual and sentimental growth” (The Master of The Gunnery, 13). Therefore, the adoption of Muscular Christianity in America triggered an increasing emphasis on sports and educating through involvement in athletics based on an English model.

Given American’s Anglophilia and their access to novels which talked about Muscular Christianity, it is not surprising how quickly the idea spread to America (Putney, 19). In 1857, a friend of Kingsley, Thomas Hughes published the novel, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, about a boy at Rugby School who overcomes his hardship in high school (Britannica). Even though Hughes did not directly mention the term, “ Muscular Christianity”, he did apply this idea in the book (Ladd, 14). For Hughes, Muscular

Christianity was to use the bodies in a moral uplifting way, to protect the weak and to acknowledge God or Christian motivation in any subsequent activity (Ladd, 15). The Rugby School model, with its idea of Muscular Christianity, influenced a group of American boarding schools. The British always had the belief that sport builds character; therefore, the schools for upper and upper-middle classes, which were the predecessors of American boarding schools, focused on fostering sports and character development (Bundgaard, 5).

Many headmasters of American boarding schools, who had either read Tom Brown’s Schooldays, like Dr. William Poland from Worcester Academy or who had graduated from a British high school, like Endicott Peabody from Groton, looked up to British boarding schools as models. Meanwhile, in the 1820s and 30s, the idea of transcendentalism emerged with people like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The transcendentalists urged people to find their relation with the universe by seeking solitude in the midst nature (Transcendentalism, plato.stanford.edu). With that said, Emerson was one of the first to criticize the Americans for lack of physical exercise (Putney, 20). Driven by the influence of British models and transcendentalism, the American boarding schools linked the idea of muscular Christianity with “sports nobly played” (Bundgaard, 19). The term “nobly played” ruled out some sports like baseball and football at some schools because of the potential danger and violence they could lead to; however, physical exercises like walking, hiking, which were also Gunn’s favorite, and rowing, which Gunn participated in at Yale, caught on quickly in boarding schools.

II. Gunn and the Origin of Sports at The Gunnery Frederick Gunn was born in Washington, Connecticut in 1816. He was born into a respected family. In spite of the fact he was orphaned at the age of 10, he always described his father as “not a professor of religion” but “none the less a Christian” and his mother as “a member of the church” (The Master of The Gunnery, 20-21). Gunn’s parents and his older brother John, who raised him after they died, had a huge influence on his personality. Gunn’s father had uncommon moral and physical courage whereas his mother was a kind and devoted woman (The Master of The Gunnery, 20-21). Under the influence of his parents, Gunn developed a bright and honest character. Not only the parents, but his surroundings growing up also contributed to his personality: it built up his passion for outdoor activities. Living around the beauty of woods, flowers, trees and birds, Gunn learned to love nature at an early young age, and developed true passion towards physical activities like fishing and hunting, which were both introduced to The Gunnery after he founded the school (The Master of The Gunnery, 95-96).

Gunn carried traits of integrity, curiosity and fondness of physical activities to his college life at Yale University. For Gunn, the academics were important, but it was not the only thing. While others devoted a large amount of time to books, he poured considerable time into physical training and athletics at Yale. Physical culture at colleges had not gained wide acceptance yet; Gunn was ahead of his time (The Master of The Gunnery, 23). Gunn’s ideal was manliness, which would result from “physical, intellectual, and sentimental growth”, and would lead to “the creating of a noble life” (The Master of The Gunnery, 23).

He himself was an example of this ideal. Gunn’s involvement in athletics at Yale preceded organized sports (Bundgaard, 157). While delving into poetry and literature, he also excelled in gymnastics, becoming a model for strength (The Master of The Gunnery, 22); meanwhile, he participated in college crew at a time when faculty generally criticized students who were “noted for strength and endurance” (The Master of The Gunnery, 23).

What enabled him to stand out was his perseverance at pursuing his own ideal under the pressure from outside world, in this case, the faculty at Yale. Gunn’s childhood experiences in nature continued to influence his mindset in college, as he acted indifferently to his position in his class, but sought to grow into a man, which in his definition meant having both good morals and strong body. Gunn’s persistence in the pursuit of a muscular body and muscular morals reflected his family background as well. As a child from a rather

religious family, though Gunn read his Bible and required his students to go to church every day, he chose not to belong to any organized church. Nonetheless, Gunn lived a strenuous and exemplary life, which “shames the daily record of many men whom the world calls religious” (Exercises at the Unveiling Monument, 14). Therefore, it is not surprising that Gunn’s ideal reflected the idea of Muscular Christianity.

Bringing with him his ideals and beliefs, Gunn founded The Gunnery in 1850, “aiming at broad manhood and character rather than the mere enforcement of mental discipline and the inculcation of dry rules and formulas” (The Master of The Gunnery, 30).

Gunn was an interesting person; he loved fun and was aware of the importance of fun for his students. In one of his speeches delivered to a convention of teachers in Hartford, Connecticut, he clearly pointed out that fun should be a part of schoolboys’ life (Gunn’s Speech). This fun is controlled: it is to “encourage and discipline students’ minds and bodies and direct enjoyment prudently without lowering moral standards” (Bundgaard, 165). Gunn was one of the first headmasters to have recognized this. His early acknowledgement of fun separated his school from the rest, and also helped bring him supporters and attracted people like Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe who sent their children to his school. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s letter to Gunn, she mentioned the unsuitable learning condition at Philips Andover as she described, Three hundred boys, are so repressed & hedged in by rules & a secret police that I have lived years by the academy & had company here & yet in summer with the windows open not a sound of play or boy noise of any kind is to be heard.”

(Harriet Beecher Stowe’s letter to Gunn) Harriet understood that it was crucial to have fun for children like her son, Charlie; therefore, she decided to transfer Charlie to The Gunnery, which she believed “is governed mainly by moral influences” instead of merely oppression.

The outcome of his recognition of fun and of his goal for character building in his students was the promotion of active engagement in sports at The Gunnery. Gunn was an advocate of sports. The earliest and most popular sport at The Gunnery was base-ball, which in the early 1850s was also known as town ball, a form of baseball originated in Massachusetts. The base-ball we play today on a diamond came to The Gunnery in the late 1850s, played by students and town people alike during summer vacation (The Master of

The Gunnery, 82). All Gunnery students were required to be on a baseball team. Gunn was also an active player. Because the idea of organized sports was not yet developed at that time, the Gunnery students had no school competitors; therefore, the early Gunnery baseball games were held between the Gunnery students, the town people and county clubs (The Master of The Gunnery, 84-85). Gunn was the first headmaster to be involved in organized schoolboy sports (Bundgaard, 42). On the baseball field, Gunn played first base, while playing equally well in both catching and throwing (Bundgaard, 41-42). Off the field, Gunn’s adherence to consistent practice and spirited attitude contributed to the proficiency of the boys on the team (Bundgaard, 42). Because of the thorough training and the ambition of the boys from the “first nine,” which was the selected group of baseball players for Gunnery, the boys managed to be the champion club of the county for many years (The Master of The Gunnery, 85). Gunn’s effort in character building paid off in the training of athletics, as one Gunnery alum, Clarence Deming, mentioned in his remarks for Gunn, “A match game of base ball is nearing its end; the score stands even; two players are ‘out;’ a runner is at third base, and a fourteen-year-old boy has taken his place at the bat. Upon that lad the crisis hangs. His self-restraint, his coolness, his nerve, are the deciding factors of the struggle. There he must stand at the home plate, the central object of interest for players and spectators alike. He must wait, he must watch, he must endure, he must, perhaps, let one or two good balls pass until the time comes for the winning hit of the game. Now was not that an ordeal which led up directly and logically to self-control, to fortitude, to character?” (Exercises at the Unveiling Monument, 11) In Deming’s remarks, he appreciated how Gunn attributed the process of building critical traits in life like self-discipline, nerve, courage, and character to athletics, to baseball. The moral lesson behind the scene of the boy waiting at the home-plate to bat reflected Gunn’s ideal for his school: devoting time outside of classroom, learning from fun, and growing into a man.

With the increasing zeal for baseball, in 1884, the school built a new baseball field to accommodate the needs of better athletic engagement. As described in the Stray Shot, the Gunnery newspaper, “The improvement in the physical condition of those whose exercise has been the most systematic and regular, is very remarkable” (Stray Shot, 1884). Later on, in 1903, the first Ridge/Gunnery basketball team was also well organized. At the same time, with the enlargement of the gymnasium, the enthusiasm for basketball increased rapidly, and, quickly, a second team was

established (Stray Shot, February, 1903). Meanwhile, baseball and football games were also held with nearby schools like Taft by 1903 (Stray Shot, June, 1903). The Gunnery boys displayed teamwork and perseverance in the practice, upright sportsmanship in the games, and support through the good cheering, which were all important characteristics for manhood and for Gunn’s ideal.

Underscoring Gunn’s encouragement of sports was his insight on its potential to strengthen the muscle, the nerve and the character of the boys. His belief in obtaining a muscular body as well as a muscular mind resonates with the idea of Muscular Christianity, which advocates using the body in a morally uplifting way.

Along the path, Gunn lived his ideal; he was a role model, who embodied in his person the characteristics of what has come to be called Muscular Christianity. Therefore, Gunn’s boys loved him and followed him in sports and physical activities as well as other aspects of life, which transformed their lives.

III.

Gunn and Other Headmasters: Different Attitudes towards Athletics

Mr. Gunn is no doubt a forerunner in recognizing the importance of athletic training as part of the physical and mental health of his students. In Mr. Gunn’s time, not every headmaster was as supportive as he was on physical training or athletics. The reaction to the rise of athletics of the boarding school headmasters could be categorized into four big groups: the active participants and leaders, supportive advocates who did not play, the permissive observers, who only watched the boys playing without any interference, and those who did not allow any boys to play. The representative headmaster of the participatory group would be Frederick Gunn from The Gunnery. Mr. Daniel Abercrombie, who was the headmaster from 1882 to 1918 of Worcester Academy, and James Cameron Mackenzie, the headmaster of The Lawrenceville School from 1883 to 1899, can be characterized as supportive. The representative headmaster of the permissive group would be Gideon Soule of Exeter from 1838 to 1873; Henry Coit who was the headmaster from 1856 to 1895 of St. Paul’s School belongs to the last group, which did not allow the boys to play much at all.

What sets the four different groups apart is their belief in what athletics could bring to their students. The active and supportive groups all, to some degree, viewed athletic training as an indispensable part of education, while the permissive group did not see the power of athletics in the education of their students.

Mr. Gunn belongs to the group of headmasters who actively participated with the students in the sports, and was certainly a leading figure in it. Mr. Gunn’s rigorous support of athletics relates directly to his view of the ideal school: the scheme of building manhood, character and physique (Yale Yearbook, 65). Mr. Gunn never forced the process of learning from athletics, but rather, he influenced the boys morally and ethically gradually through the course of them having fun. Recognizing the fun and benefit athletics can bring to his boys, Gunn was not only an advocate, but also the first headmaster to be involved in organized schoolboy sports (Bundgaard, 42). On the baseball field, Gunn played first base, while playing equally well in both catching and throwing (Bundgaard, 41, 42). Off the field, Gunn’s adherence to consistent practice and spirited attitude contributed to the proficiency of the boys on the team (Bundgaard, 42). As his boys put, “As boys we felt in all the sports

of the Gunnery only the element of direct pleasure. The master’s deep plan of characterstructure, now revealed to our mature sight, was masked then” (The Master of The Gunnery, 101). Mr. Gunn did a great job in bringing fun to the boys, but it shows that the deeper lessons in morals and character had life-long influence on the boys, too, as they gradually realized later on in life. As Clearance Deming mentioned, “The master encouraged and almost compelled every kind of rational exercise as part of his characterbuilding” (Bundgaard, 157). Therefore, Mr. Gunn is the perfect example of those headmasters who are active involvers and leaders.

Like Mr. Gunn, Abercrombie from Worcester believed in the importance of athletic training and fostered sports in school; however, he was not as rigorous as Gunn in advocating engagement in athletics. Abercrombie once wrote to an alumnus, “You know that I believe thoroughly in the value of athletics in a young fellow’s life and especially their value to a school where boys must be kept busy and happy about things that are worthwhile” (Worcester, Athletic General). In this note, Mr. Abercrombie seems to understand, like Mr. Gunn, the importance of having fun and that what athletics brings to students can be meaningful. Abercrombie was also able to look beyond the basic fun athletics brings and see the value of it to maintain health and seek potential. Like Gunn, Abercrombie promoted controlled fun, which would further lead the students to obtain virtues like “honest, courteous, courageous and unselfish” (Worcester, General Athletic).

He justifies athletics using Classical Greek, "Practice bodily exercise not for brute force, but for good health...” (Worcester, General Athletic). At Worcester, baseball was also the first ball game introduced, in 1880 (Worcester, Baseball Chapter). However, baseball was dropped at one time in 1884 because of the lack of a proper playing field (Worcester, Baseball Chapter). Fortunately, within a year, the school purchased more land to obtain a playground for the boys, and in 1887, Worcester had its first baseball team. Besides baseball, football is another sport that started early in Worcester in 1880s. Even though there are many similarities between Gunn and Abercrombie, Abercrombie’s major concern is still academic, which is different from Mr. Gunn’s, who regarded schoolwork as secondary to moral and character building. Abercrombie thinks that getting a hold of a boy through athletics might help him to further incite the boy’s potential and interest in his studies (Worcester, Athletic General). That said, Mr. Abercrombie prioritizes academics, and is more of “a leader in academic topics but not on sports” (Worcester, General

Athletics). Therefore, even though Abercrombie did stress the athletic training, he was not as fervent as Mr. Gunn was, which puts him in the second category, supportive.

Another supportive figure would be James Mackenzie from The Lawrenceville School. Before Mackenzie, Lawrenceville had already started its baseball and football program under Headmaster Samuel Hamill (Mulford, 259). Very much like Gunn’s family, Hamill’s father was an influential member in the community and a leading elder in the Presbyterian Church while his mother was a gifted Christian woman (Mulford, 38).

However, though he approved swimming and horsemanship in the school, Hamill believed that in the country, gymnastics and physical exercises were not necessary considering what his boys could acquire from nature (Mulford, 259). It was not until Mackenzie that athletics became a required part of a schoolboy’s day (Mulford, 259). In Mackenzie’s era, baseball and football were still the two biggest organized sports. The first captain for its baseball team dated back to 1872 (Mulford, 261) while the first captain for football dated back to 1877 (Mulford, 274). Mackenzie also introduced formal gymnastics to the school after he became head, as he realized the educational importance of athletics.

Then there is the third group of headmasters who did not interfere much with sports or athletics. For example, Mr. Gideon Soule from Exeter carried out a “laissez-faire” approach to athletics (Bundgaard, 153). The students at Exeter were allowed to play games in the breaks of their busy schooldays, but Mr. Soule did no more than correct the boys when they made mistakes during their play (Bundgaard, 153). His style is that “The Academy has no rules, until they are broken” (Bundgaard, 153); therefore, there were very few interactions between him and the students on athletics. The representative of final group who did not allow boys to play much would be Henry Coit from St. Paul’s School.

What made him different from Mr. Soule is that Mr. Coit approved certain sports, like rowing and cricket, but regarded football and baseball as “being fraught with shouting, fighting, and cheating” (Bungaard, 153), and therefore banned them. Compared to Gunn, Abercrombie and Mackenzie, these two headmasters were more passive and less concerned about athletics at school.

In conclusion, there were differences in the level of athletic involvement at each school and differences in the level of understanding the importance of athletics among all

the headmasters. Though the starting point was varied, as time goes on, an increasing number of headmasters in boys’ boarding schools started to realize the importance of including sports in their curriculum as the concept of Muscular Christianity further spread throughout the country and increasing number of educators started to embrace the idea.

IV.

Girls’ Boarding School: From Walking, Dancing to Organized Sports

While the boys’ boarding schools developed their athletic involvement earlier and quickly, the girls’ boarding schools did not win as much support for physical training from their heads who deemed athletics or physical exercises as “unladylike” (Where Girls Come First, 96). Schools like Hathaway Brown School, founded in 1876, and Miss Porter’s, founded in 1843, were explicitly against interschool games or, in other words, competitive playing for girls (Where Girls Come First, 96). Miss Porter, the founding headmistress of Miss Porter’s once told a girl that her reason for not having a dirt field to replace the grass tennis court was that the latter would not foster as much competitive playing (Where Girls Come First, 96). In her words, though it is clear that competitive playing was not allowed in the school, as she said, “we utterly disapprove of any competition – any emulation entering into it.” It is also obvious that physical training was welcomed as long as the girls acted gracefully and not violently. Miss Porter stated that the school had “no desire that any of you [students] should become or be known as accomplished tennis player,” but that it (the school) desired that the students “should play as entertainment” (Where Girls Come First, 96). The decision of most girls’ schools to not be involved in competitive sports resulted from the idea of being a graceful and elegant woman. This was also reflected later in the concern for college-level women athletes. In order to win the support of the faculty at Smith College for basketball, Senda Berenson, the instructor, let her basketball players demonstrate graceful and delightful dancing movements in front of the faculty body to show that they could still keep their poise (History of Physical Education at Smith College).

In the 19th century, women hadn’t become as assertive as they are now. Most often, the role of women in society was to raise their children and stay at home and do household work. Therefore, suggesting that women refrain from more aggressive sports involvement was within the society’s stereotype of being “neat, quiet and accommodating” (Where Girls Come First, 98). At the same time, mild physical involvement made women more able to bear babies and take care of them.

This idea of appropriate physical exercise became more acceptable as women’s education grew more important. Emma Willard in the 19th century is a perfect example of promoting physical training, but not rigorous athletics. The curriculum designed at Emma Willard School revealed “a progressive concern with the benefits of physical education”

(Wrought with Steadfast Will, 112). The ultimate purpose of Emma Willard School was to prepare mothers of future presidents (Wrought with Steadfast Will), which is a step up from simply being good mothers. Therefore, at first, Emma Willard established highly rigorous courses to prepare the girls intellectually for their ultimate goal, being presidents’ mothers. Later on, the seminaries, which are independent high schools for girls, like academies are for boys, were generally criticized for only creating young ladies who were too devoted to their studies while becoming sickly and unsteady (Wrought with Steadfast Will, 112). As Emma Willard School became aware of the importance of a sound body for giving birth and raising babies, or maybe under the pressure of the society’s voices, it also included exercises aiming to “develop body symmetry, graces of movement and sound health” (Troy Female Seminary 1894-1895). They included both dancing and calisthenics in their curriculum to help the girls be more physically prepared for the raising of their children. Compared to the aims of baseball and football, the body exercises at Emma Willard only aimed to construct a fit body. Towards the end of 19th century, noncompetitive physical exercise turned into a requirement for all the girls at Emma Willard.

Girls are required to “take daily walks for at least an hour in the open air” (Annual Catalogue of the Emma Willard School). Also, gymnastics grew to be a big part of their physical exercise. Emma Willard invited Miss. Grace L. Waterman, from the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics to take control of the gymnasium work in 1896 (Emma Willard School, 1896-97), and it was also mandatory for students to have regular practice in the gym (Annual Catalogue of the Emma Willard School). The momentum of physical exercise carried to the start of 20th century, when Emma Willard began to introduce competitive team sports, like field hockey and basketball. The school started to hold basketball games in 1901 and field hockey games took place in 1902 (The Triangle). The increase of women’s competitive sports reflected the trend in society; as women started to become more assertive and active in the society in the late 19th and early 20th century, they also advocated their rights and promoted their role by becoming involved in activities that were first considered only, or mostly for men, like competitive sports.

Even though most girls’ schools in the late 19th century were behind at first on their involvement in athletics, Mr. Gunn started his school allowing the girls to play on the baseball team. According to Gunnery legend, there was a girl named Amy Kenyon, who played in a baseball game. She hid the ball under her skirt, and ran the bases, pretending

that she hit a home run. Gunn was ahead of his time in promoting ideas that were at the time unpopular, whether as an abolitionist or the acceptance of girls when he first founded his school. Therefore, it is reasonable to deduce that Mary Brinsmade’s decision to include physical exercise in her school, Judea Female Seminary’s curriculum was supported by Gunn. At Judea Seminary, which was founded in 1846, the girls were of high school age, but receiving the college level education Mary Brinsmade brought from Mount Holyoke Seminary, which was founded in 1837 and took girls who were younger than college age.

The girls at Judea Seminary did calisthenics wearing bloomers under Mary’s teaching, which was then criticized by the minister of the Congregational Church (The Road to Women’s Rights). Mary Brinsmade, like Gunn, was a forerunner in the women’s movement and had a leading role in women’s education. It is hard to say how much influence Gunn had over Mary, but they both recognized the importance of physical exercise for not only men, but also women from early on, which is very notable and rare.

In conclusion, though initially for a purpose of taking care of children, girls’ boarding schools like the boys’, promoted physical exercises, starting with simple walking and dancing. It was rather crucial for the early headmistresses to gradually realize the benefits, other than health, that athletics and competitive sports brought to girl students.

Later, as the society put more focus and had more tolerance for a broader role for women in society, women’s athletics developed quickly. Evidence of this trend can be seen in the engagement of women at the college level.

V. College: Same Ideal, More Involvement With the mission to form a muscular body and a muscular mind, and the mission to bear and raise healthy babies, both boys’ and girls’ boarding schools incorporated athletics or physical training into their curriculum. Students who had fun and acquired athletic skills in high schools continued to thrive at the college level. In the case of college athletics, once adopted, both men’s and women’s sports were more widely practiced than in high school, under similar goals of obtaining health and good morals.

Yale University was one of the first colleges who led the way in college athletics, which later largely influenced American’s higher education (History of Sports at Yale).

Much like the idea of athletics in high school, Yale, at first, did not aim to train students to be professional athletes, but more importantly, to encourage all students to participate and grow from their athletics experience. One of the representative team sports at Yale was its field and track program. Its first intramural team was established in 1872, almost the same time when modern track and field competitions originated (Yale and Track). Later on in the 1870s, track and field developed into intercollegiate competitions (Yale and Track). Not only nationally influential, Yale’s track team also competed with colleges in England, like Oxford and Cambridge (Yale and Track). Besides track, competitive crew at Yale also began as early as 1860, when the Yale college crew team would have traditional competitions with Harvard. When Gunn went to Yale in 1833, he was a rower and also one of the first students who appreciated the values inherent in athletics. Although, during those years, the college was not as supportive as it was later on, Gunn had the access he needed to develop a muscular body and mind through rowing and doing gymnastics.

On the other hand, though the girls’ high schools did not have as strict an athletics requirement as the boys’, women’s colleges are a different story. Women’s colleges looked to men’s sports for their guidelines and reshaped some sports to fit women’s standards.

For example, Smith College is one of the women’s colleges that had treated physical education seriously, both in terms of athletic facilities and physical training since it was established.

At Smith, the college strove to support each of its students with the most up-to-date facilities and equipment for a physical regimen (Track and Tennis at Smith). Therefore, it is not surprising that Smith built its first gymnasium, the “Old Gymnasium,” in 1879, which was eight years after it was founded (Smith College Gym: A Memory). On the first

floor of the Old Gym, there was a bowling alley and practice rooms, and there were music rooms and an area for dramatics on the second floor (Smith College Gym: A Memory).

Compared to the requirements of walking, gymnastics and calisthenics at Emma Willard and Judea Seminary, Smith College was more advanced in organized sports and games, although at a later date. The college held the first women’s collegiate basketball game between its freshman and sophomore girls in its Alumnae Gym on March. 22nd, 1893 (fivecolleges.edu, Senda Berenson). Women’s basketball originated and gained its popularity at Smith. Senda Berenson, an instructor at Smith, brought the idea from James Naismith after reading his article on basketball rules, which was issued in The Triangle, a newspaper, in January 1892, and started basketball at Smith as the first “team sport” for women (New Woman: New Sport).

Basketball, which was formerly called “basket ball”, was first developed by James Naismith at a YMCA, the Young Men’s Christian Association, at Springfield in Massachusetts in 1891. Naismith was assigned by the school to create a new sport between the football and baseball seasons, and the result was the creation of basketball (Basketball Hall of Fame). Being the physical education instructor of a Christian-based organization, it is not surprising that Naismith immersed himself in the idea of Muscular Christianity, and believed that sports had the capability to develop character and instill Christian values and ethics that would benefit the participants throughout their lives (Basketball Hall of Fame).

He developed his philosophy that physical training would ideally incorporate the essence of humanity, which was a triangle relationship between body, mind, and spirit, and believed the ideal outcome of playing sports is the elevation of spiritual and moral awareness (Basketball Hall of Fame). Therefore, basketball, according to him, should be put “on such a basis that it will be a factor in the molding of character as a recreative [sic.] and competitive sport” while keeping “young men involved in healthy activity” (Basketball Hall of Fame).

Naismith first introduced the game with 13 rules, which included throwing the ball with one or both hands, not running with the ball, never batting the ball with fist, no shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or hitting an opponent, etc. (Betty Spears, Senda Berenson). Senda Berenson at Smith was inspired by this newly invented sport and wondered if it could be played by women. Berenson then adjusted the game to be a good fit

for women. For example, she emphasized avoiding physical roughness. But even though she changed the rules on how it was to be played among women, her core idea of physical training was no different from Naismith’s. She believed that “the greatest health and character-building habits is of the utmost importance of physical education” (Phys. Ed. Sh. Be). In one of her speeches, Berenson pointed out that physical education should not only appear for the purpose of health and endurance, but should also be for the purpose of bringing out its participants’ mental, ethical and moral forces. Therefore, later on, those people would be able to meet other activities in life “more easily, more vitally, more sanely and more joyously” (Athletics for Women). Though not specifically stated, the ideal of Muscular Christianity was clearly reflected in Berenson’s athletic philosophy.

At Smith, Berenson’s philosophy permeated her relationships with the Smith girls during her time coaching basketball. The passion for basketball and the physical and mental improvement could easily be seen in the correspondence from Smith basketball players to their parents. One correspondence talked about the collegiate game between the Smith freshmen and sophomores, “Our team, I said proudly, has won the last two times. We are going to practice the 22nd and wipe up the floor Friday. Really, it’s the most exciting thing you ever saw. The teams that aren’t playing get up in the running-track and hang their feet over applauding violently most of the time. It is not an unusual sight to see a girl suspending operations to do up her hair although a good many wear their hair down, thus adding to the singular appearance” (Grace writing to Fred, 18 February 1894).

In Grace’s letter, the enthusiasm about basketball and general athletic events is clear.

Because of the regularly played games at Smith, which attracted students from schools like Wellesley College and Mount Holyoke College, basketball spread quickly to other colleges (New Woman: New Sports). Berenson’s effort widened the acceptance of not only basketball, but also intercollegiate games for women. Another correspondence talked about the concerns about women playing sports, “Last night Dr. Judson, of the University of Chicago, whose daughter Alice is a freshman here, was over to see our evening gym class. His daughter hurt herself some time this fall in basket-ball, and Miss Berenson wished to show him what a really mild game it is. For the last ten minutes of the gym hour we

played. I trust I may never play again in such a rough game. We managed to lay up two girls in the short time. One had her eyes hurt, not seriously, of course, but enough to prevent her from finishing playing. The other fell and slid with full force into the benches by the rib-stools. There she lay for a few minutes perfectly still. Then she got up and laughed it off, and would have gone on playing if we had not stopped the game” (Fanny Garrison to her family, 21 January, 1899).

From Garrison’s letter to her family, allowing women to do sports still raised the concern of behaving in a womanly manner and worry about the level of intensity. However, from the reaction of the injured women, it is not hard to see their devotion to basketball and how they have grown both physically and mentally through their experiences learning and playing the game. The woman who laughed off her injury also reflected that women could be just as resilient as men. As the leader, though facing difficulties in bringing the new sport for women, Berenson was “undaunted in solving the problems” (New Women, New Sports). Berenson herself, who obtained mental roughness and perseverance facing obstacles in bringing new sports to women, was the role model for all the girls. As Smith strove to build skills like leadership, self-discipline, and teamwork towards a common goal in its athletics training (Track and Tennis at Smith), Berenson and her girls set an example of women taking leadership at a time when they generally did not lead in sports.

College certainly took athletics, especially competitive athletics, to another level in its training and in its range of influence. Colleges benefited from having well-trained athletes who graduated from boarding schools and who appreciated the value of athletic training. In college, with even better facilities and a larger scale of involvement, sports gained popularity rapidly because an increasing number of faculty and students recognized the power of athletics in building and shaping a healthy body, morality and spirit. Whether it was at Yale, where Gunn had the opportunity to participate in rowing and gymnastics, or at Smith, where girls were encouraged to break their stereotype and play basketball, athletics has become an inseparable part of the higher education which Americans receive.

VI.

Conclusion

In the 19th century, a wide variety of reform movements took place worldwide, including the United States, as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Under the influence of those social and economic reforms, like Transcendentalism, American boarding schools also started their own revolution in the late 19th century on their inclusion of sports and organized athletics. The idea of Muscular Christianity certainly spurred the schools to include athletics in their curriculum by influencing those who were aware of the benefit of having physical training, and those who obtained virtues that would impact others. On a college level, people like James Naismith integrated the core of Muscular Christianity with his ideal of athletic training, which resulted in his invention of basketball. Senda Berenson from Smith College also implemented a female version of Muscular Christianity and was herself a great model of the ideal. Her great contribution was her development of women’s basketball at Smith. On a high school level, Gunn was a great example. His secularized idea happened to coincide with the concept of Muscular Christianity, and he required all his boys to take part in sports for both character development and academics.

The purpose for boys’ athletics certainly varies from that of the girls’ early on. The different paths for boys’ and girls’ athletics did not prevent the schools from eventually ending on the same page, both moral and physical elevation as one of the goals of education. Because of the insightful early headmasters in boarding schools for both genders, athletics have become increasing accessible since the late 19th century, and, are now, well appreciated in most schools, especially boarding schools like The Gunnery.

All of the educators or instructors who advocated athletic engagement aimed to build traits like manliness, perseverance and integrity in their students, because they realized the major goal of education was not merely knowledge, but also the establishment of character. As US President Woodrow Wilson described the boarding school in his 1910 Centennial Address at Lawrenceville School, “A residential school is… an attempt to establish a community, and by attempting to establish a community it recognizes the principle: that education does not consist in instruction; that it consists in instruction plus the processes of life which make instruction useful and valid. It recognizes the fact that the habits of the mind are of the essence of the whole process; that a mind not put to use itself is not a mind awakened and is not a mind educated” (Hicks, 528). Athletics make the boys and girls tougher, and taught them perseverance and courage. It is certainly a principle

which tempers the athletes to “show grace in victory and equanimity in defeat� (Hicks, 529). It is indeed harder to build character than knowledge, but the schools found athletic training to be an integral part of the process of building character which will benefit students for their entire lives.

As an international student, it is intriguing to me that those ball movements on the field, on the court and on the rink had so much history and educational philosophy behind them. Besides the fact that I did not die, it is also clear to me that I have benefited in many ways from the sports I played here. During my time in field hockey, basketball and on the softball team, I have learned the core of cooperation in the process of playing those team sports. I have learned that the dull repetition of drills and the perseverance along the practice process is indispensable to improve and grow. I have learned to effectively put instructions into actions while adjusting to the actual situations in the games. And there is no doubt that these skills and knowledge will stay with me and benefit me in the future.

Works Cited “Athletic Association.” Stray Shot Apr. 1884: 1. Gunnery School Archive, Washington, CT. Print.

“Athletic Games.” Stray Shot June 1903. Gunnery School Archive, Washington, CT. Print.

“Basketball Team and Gym.” Stray Shot Feb. 1903. Gunnery School Archive, Washington, CT. Print.

Berenson, Senda. Athletics For Women. Smith College Collections Online. 1892. Speech.

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“Biographical Note.” Senda Berenson Papers - Home Page. N.p., 1999. http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/ Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

Bundgaard, Axel. Muscle and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005. Print.

Callahan, Frank. Chapter 38A Athletics General. Unpublished Manuscripts in Progress, Worcester Academy, Worcester, MA ---. Chapter 39 C Baseball. Unpublished Manuscripts in Progress, Worcester Academy, Worcester, MA DeBare, Ilana. Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls’ Schools. New York: J.P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2004. Print.

Garrison, Fanny. Fanny Garrison to Her Family Letters. Box 52. Departments, Physical Education, General and History, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 21 Jan. 1899.

Gibson, William Hamilton, Ed. The Master of The Gunnery. New York: The Gunn Memorial Association, 1887. Print Goodman, Russell. “Transcendentalism.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Fall 2013. N.p., 2013. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

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Hicks, David V. “The Strange Fate of the American Boarding School.” The American Scholar 65.4 (1996): 523–535. Print.

Ladd, Tony, and James A Mathisen. Muscular Christianity: Evangelical Protestants and the Development of American Sport.

Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1999. Print.

Mulford, Roland. History of The Lawrenceville School. Princeton University Press, 1935. Print.

Putney, Clifford. Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. Print.

Record of the Class of 1837 in Yale University. Seventh Edition. Springfield: Weaver, Shipman and Company, Printers, 1887.

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So, Soojin. The Roads to Women’s Rights. N.p., The Gunnery Archives 2012. Print.

Stanford University. “Discovering Dickens - Historical Context.” Discovering Dickens - A Community Reading Project. N.p., 2005. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

Stowe, Harriet. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Letter to Frederick Gunn. Yale University Library (Manuscripts & Archives), New Haven, CT. 18 Jan. 1864.

The Gunn Memorial Association. Exercises at the Unveiling of a Monument to Frederick William Gunn. 1882. The Gunnery Archives. Washington, CT. “Tom Brown’s School Days | Novel by Hughes.” Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

Whiting, Grace. Grace Whiting to Fred Letter. Box 52. Departments, Physical Education, General and History. Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 18 Feb. 1894.

Xu, Qi. Annual Catalogue of the Emma Willard School 1897-98 2. N.p., Emma Willard School Archive, Troy, NY. 2014.

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---. Basketball Rules 1. N.p., Basketball History Exhibit, Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Emma Willard School Out-Of-Door Exercise. N.p., Box 2.12 Sports-Summer Program, Emma Willard School Archive, Troy, NY. 2014. Print.

---. History of Physical Education at Smith College p5. N.p., Box 52. Departments, Physical Education, General and History, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. History of Sports at Yale 1. N.p., LSF, Box 1, Committee on the History of Yale, Yale University Records, Yale University Library (Manuscripts & Archives), New Haven, CT. 2014. Print.

---. Senda Berenson New Women: New Sport 3. N.p., Box 80. Athletics, Basketball, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Senda Berenson New Women: New Sport 4. N.p., Box 80. Athletics, Basketball, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Senda Berenson New Women: New Sport 4. N.p., Box 80. Athletics, Basketball, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Smith College Gym A Memory. N.p., Box 20. Buildings & Grounds, Gymnasiums, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014.

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---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Mind. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Spirit. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Body. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Uniforms N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Rules 1 N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Rules 2. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame James Naismith Female Uniform. N.p., Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. 2014. Print.

---. The Triangle June 1902 p24. N.p., Emma Willard School Catalogues/Bulletins 1895-1918 Box 1, Emma Willard School Archive, Troy, NY. 2014. Print.

---. Track and Tennis at Smith 2. N.p., Box 20. Buildings & Grounds, Gymnasiums, Smith College Archive, Northampton, MA. 2014. Print.

---. Troy Female Seminary p22-23. N.p., Troy Female Seminary Catalogues 1820-1895 Box 1, Emma Willard School Archive, Troy, NY. 2014. Print.

---. Yale and Track 1. N.p., LSF, Box 1, Committee on the History of Yale, Yale University Records, Yale University Library (Manuscripts & Archives), New Haven, CT. 2014. Print.

---. Yale and Track A History of Yale Track. N.p., LSF, Box 1, Committee on the History of Yale, Yale University Records, Yale University Library (Manuscripts & Archives), New Haven, CT. 2014. Print.

Appendix

My Evaluations of the Project Progress each Grading Period FALL MIDTERM I think I started off pretty well with my project. My interest on this topic has only increased, with the help and inspirations from Mr. Hollinger and Mrs. Krimsky.

I read Muscles and Manliness in the summer, which gave me a really helpful big picture for my topic. The trip to Yale was very rewarding as well. I found a lot of information and learnt to be proactive while carrying out research. The resources from Yale really led me to discover more about athletic training and about Frederick Gunn. Also, reading about The Master of Gunnery and Stray Shots, I established some fundamental knowledge about Gunn’s life and the rise of different sports in The Gunnery. Now, I have a lot of information, with the exception of women in athletics, but I really need to work on sorting them and connecting them together. I will keep researching for more information, especially on women athletics, while starting to pick out the useful info and fill the holes in my research.

FALL TERM FINAL I continue to gather a lot of information in the second half of fall term. I really enjoyed researching at Smith College. The experience was even more informative than I expected. The trip to Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame was another joy for me since I am a big fan of basketball. Also, the books I read this half term have been big help for me to get deeper understanding. I believe after reading the history on Lawrenceville and Emma Willard School, I would be more prepared. I have come up with a general outline, but I need to keep adding information related to the Gunnery and my own voice and analysis to make it more complete. I look forward to starting writing in winter term!

WINTER MIDTERM I am done with all my research process and am now in the process of writing. At the beginning of the writing process, I picked out the parts which I had the most information on, and simply tried to put all the information together. But I realized that those paragraphs were boring to read and did not have much insight into the topics. It did not go the way I expected, and Mr. Hollinger and Mrs. Krimsky also pointed that out for me. Starting with the chapter on Gunn and the origin of Gunnery sports, I seemed to finally find the right way of putting all the information together while making relevant analysis and adding in my own interpretation. I am looking forward to writing more and being able to organize my information and thoughts into better-written chapters.

WINTER TERM FINAL My writing process has become a lot smoother during the second half of winter term. Before midterm, I was struggling with all the information I had, and did not know how to put them into organized and insightful paragraphs. But Mrs. Krimsky and Mr. Hollinger helped me map out all the thoughts and structure, which really moved me back to the right track. Once I started to write with a much clearer direction, I started to enjoy the writing process and the interesting conclusions

and parallel situations I was able to draw from all the sources and stories. The writing process overall was very rewarding and I am excited to see the final product.

SPRING TERM MIDTERM I finished all the writing and started doing PowerPoint and preparing for my presentation. It is very interesting, but also tiring to organize about 200 photos I took and to label each one of them. But the result was very rewarding. I had the chance to look at all the places I went to and all the sources I have read and realize how special this process has been to me. I am also really content with my progress along the way. The presentation is also going well; I will have to practice more so I get into the habit of looking up and stressing important points. I am very happy about my final product and feel really excited (and a little nervous) to present it.

MY ORIGINAL PROPOSAL April 2014 1. What topic do you want to do and why?

I really want to research something about sports: either the development of a certain sport, like basketball, or the whole philosophy behind athletic training. Coming from China, there are not many opportunities for us to participate in a wide range of sports. Though I found my interest in basketball in elementary school, the busy schoolwork always takes the basketball time away from me. However at the Gunnery, sports is certainly a big part of every student’s life, and it is also one way coaches educate us about cooperation and competition. If anyone asks me about the most unforgettable part of my Gunnery life, being able to participate in some sports I never even heard of before would certainly be one. But I would love to learn about why sports is such a focus here, what the philosophy behind all of the intense sports engagement is, and how this has affected our school in the past years. That’s why I chose to explore on Gunnery’s history on sports.

2. Why are you qualified to be a Gunn Scholar?

History has always been my favorite subject in school. I deeply enjoy the process of gathering material and resources, putting them together and analyzing the cause and effect behind each event.

That said, the Gunn Scholar Program experience would be a perfect match for my fondness in history. As a student, I barely procrastinate; therefore, even though there is no syllabus or fixed schedule for the program, I would always have a plan for myself and make the best use of my time.

Also, I am never someone who would easily get frustrated. The process of researching for such a big project must be really challenging, so I might find myself stuck in the process sometime, but I would never just give up and allow myself to go for an easy solution. Because I have such a strong passion in history and in the topic I want to explore, I would always be willing to do more work and to find more information. Besides, I love reading and writing. During the research process, there would be a lot of communication and writing. I have always enjoyed talking to different people, and writing in different styles, like synthesis, fiction, argument and analysis. So these parts would not be a burden for me. (Plus I write in cursive, so I might be able to identify some cursive writings in the hand-written resources ) I would stay focused and motivated throughout the whole process, so I believe I am a good fit for a Gunn Scholar.

3. Why do expect to get out of the experience?

I would like to learn how to effectively do research and organize resources. My past research experience was not too overwhelming, because teachers would provide us with resources and the topics were rather specific. During the research process for Gunn Scholar, I will have to read so many books and scripts. I will have to winnow the useful ones out of the others. Therefore, through the experience, I would have to effectively organize my resources and time, so that I can make the content interesting and logical. I think it is something I need to work on more because usually I do not get exposed to such big amount of resources. I want to learn to identify good resources, and be able to present the information in a well-structured way. I am also excited to face this obstacle, because that means I get to work with so many precious resources and interpret them with my own words. And equally important, I will be able to learn the philosophy and the evolution for Gunnery sports, which is a central part of my Gunnery life.