In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Misericordia offered an array of sports, available for women to participate in. Such sports include archery, tennis, basketball, soccer, ice skating and many more. I know this because of several photos I viewed in the archives. In theses photos, they show a group of women shooting arrows at targets, one woman shooting an arrow at a target while others watch, and a group photo of women holding their respected sports items such as the basketball, ice skates, and so forth. This makes me wonder what happened to these sports teams and when and why they started to fade out. I do not believe there is an archery team or ice skating team anymore; but was it because they weren’t popular, there was no one to teach it, or was it pushed out on purpose? These photos are more examples of women breaking the gender norms, and in the 1930’s at that. I wonder if things changed or became offered in light of the previous war or the upcoming war that occurred in the time period.
Misericordia, “Sports Heads,” media “photograph” (1939). University Photo collections, RG905, Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives, Misericordia University, Dallas, PA.
Misericordia “Archery,” media “photograph” , (1940). University Photo collections, RG905, Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives, Misericordia University, Dallas, PA.
Misericordia, “Unknown,” media “photograph” , (1920). University Photo collections, RG905, Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives, Misericordia University, Dallas, PA.