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| old_gymnasium [2024/08/12 17:45] – [New Campus] bant05 | old_gymnasium [2024/08/12 17:45] (current) – [Background] bant05 |
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| It was not until after the [[civil_war|Civil War]] that athletic activity and exercise became part of undergraduate life. Exercise apparatus at an early date "was erected in the open to the west of [[brownell_hall|Brownell Hall]]," ((Trinity Tablet, June 1908)) but the pieces of equipment (which included ladder, pommel horse, and parallel bars) were exposed to the elements, fell into disrepair, and disappeared. In May 1871, students advocated for a gymnasium utilizing the //[[tablet|Trinity Tablet,]]// which succeeded. The College agreed to build it, and the students cheered: "there is one thing which is most certainly essential to a college, and that is, a gymnasium. It is absolutely necessary that a person, who leads a sedentary life, should have physical exercise. If the mind must be trained in an intellectual gymnasium, so must the body be exercised in a physical one." ((Trinity Tablet, September 1871)) | It was not until after the [[civil_war|Civil War]] that athletic activity and exercise became part of undergraduate life. Exercise apparatus at an early date "was erected in the open to the west of [[brownell_hall|Brownell Hall]]," ((Trinity Tablet, June 1908)) but the pieces of equipment (which included ladder, pommel horse, and parallel bars) were exposed to the elements, fell into disrepair, and disappeared. In May 1871, students advocated for a gymnasium utilizing the //[[tablet|Trinity Tablet,]]// which succeeded. The College agreed to build it, and the students cheered: "there is one thing which is most certainly essential to a college, and that is, a gymnasium. It is absolutely necessary that a person, who leads a sedentary life, should have physical exercise. If the mind must be trained in an intellectual gymnasium, so must the body be exercised in a physical one." ((Trinity Tablet, September 1871)) |
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| Construction began about September of 1871, and the excited students soon became dubious about the size and layout of the structure: "if the authorities would only be willing to take suggestions from students who have spent, we may almost say, years among the parallel bars and ladders, who, as the building is for their benefit, might be expected to know best what they need and wish, all might yet be well. As it is, however, the end will probably be very unsatisfactory to the majority of the college." ((//Trinity Tablet//, November 1871)) | Construction began about September of 1871, and the excited students soon became dubious about the size and layout of the structure: "if the authorities would only be willing to take suggestions from students who have spent, we may almost say, years among the parallel bars and ladders, who, as the building is for their benefit, might be expected to know best what they need and wish, all might yet be well. As it is, however, the end will probably be very unsatisfactory to the majority of the college." ((Trinity Tablet, November 1871)) |
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| The gymnasium, located "a hundred feet west of the wing on Jarvis Hall" and "parallel to Capitol Avenue" ((Trinity Tablet, June 1908)) was a popular spot on campus at the start and was dedicated with a formal dance. By 1872, however, though "heavy weights, Indian clubs, and a spirometer" were added, the gymnasium was "getting to be an old story" and students' "general interest in it had subsided." A lack of heating in winter also contributed to its declining use, though the November 1871 //Trinity Tablet// explicitly describes that the building had gas, "a new feature in college gymnasiums, and one greatly to be desired." | The gymnasium, located "a hundred feet west of the wing on Jarvis Hall" and "parallel to Capitol Avenue" ((Trinity Tablet, June 1908)) was a popular spot on campus at the start and was dedicated with a formal dance. By 1872, however, though "heavy weights, Indian clubs, and a spirometer" were added, the gymnasium was "getting to be an old story" and students' "general interest in it had subsided." A lack of heating in winter also contributed to its declining use, though the November 1871 //Trinity Tablet// explicitly describes that the building had gas, "a new feature in college gymnasiums, and one greatly to be desired." |
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| Students soon discovered that the gymnasium, with its large open oak wood floor, was an excellent space for social events, which were previously held in small and cluttered spaces such as the [[museum_of_natural_history|Cabinet]]. In subsequent years, "almost any occasion became the excuse for a dance," including [[charter_day|May 16]]. Some students and alumni wrote to the //Trinty Tablet// with complaints that the dances were "farcical" and asked if Trinity really wished to be known as the "Dancing College of America." ((//Trinity Tablet//, April 1874)) | Students soon discovered that the gymnasium, with its large open oak wood floor, was an excellent space for social events, which were previously held in small and cluttered spaces such as the [[museum_of_natural_history|Cabinet]]. In subsequent years, "almost any occasion became the excuse for a dance," including [[charter_day|May 16]]. Some students and alumni wrote to the //Trinty Tablet// with complaints that the dances were "farcical" and asked if Trinity really wished to be known as the "Dancing College of America." ((Trinity Tablet, April 1874)) |
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| ===== New Campus ===== | ===== New Campus ===== |
