Turn Back the Clock: Field hockey approved as a women's sport

On this day in 1916, field hockey became the second women's sport to exist at Penn (tennis was the first).

Women first joined Penn campus classrooms in 1876. Slowly, year by year, co-eds gained more privileges at Penn. In 1880 Mary Alice Bennett, M.D. and Mary Thorn Lewis were the first two women to earn degrees. However, women were not allowed into undergraduate programs until 1894 when the Biology department opened its doors.

The College Courses for Teachers was founded in 1906 and led to an increased female presence in undergraduate campus life. But this progression was slow-moving and no critical mass was present to lobby for women’s sports.

In 1920, the administration and growing female population demonstrated a firm commitment to women’s athletics, but the results were lacking.

In response, they organized classes at the West Branch Y.M.C.A. where the women traveled to 52nd and Sansom to practice basketball. Later that year, the university hired Margaret Majer to teach two hours of electives for women who wanted to participate in physical education. In her three years at Penn, she found and developed women’s teams in gymnastics, softball, swimming and tennis.

As the years went on, Penn’s devotion to women’s athletics only grew. Today, with 15 women’s programs and a real chance at the Ivy title in field hockey, we see the significance of this day and the persistence for equality nearly a century ago.