Table of Contents
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Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids
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| Collection |
| Title: | Boston-Bouvé College records |
| Dates: | 1892-2000 (bulk 1925-1970) |
| Call Number: | M41 |
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Historical Note
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In 1913 seven women founded the Boston School of Physical Education after their alma mater, the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, merged with Wellesley College. Founders Bessie Barnes, Caroline Baxter, Marjorie Bouvé, Marguerite Sanderson, Grace Shepardson, Mary Florence Stratton, and Miriam Tobey wanted to ensure Boston's ability to offer a two-year teacher training program for women similar to their own training.
Co-founder Marjorie Bouvé became the Boston School of Physical Education 's first director in 1913. After disagreements with the corporation in 1925 however, Bouvé resigned from the Boston School of Physical Education and opened the Bouvé School, Incorporated, also a school of physical education. By 1929 the Boston School of Physical Education was experiencing financial difficulties, and in 1930 the two schools merged to form the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education with Bouvé as its director.
Although the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education had begun strictly as a physical education school, it quickly incorporated the developing field of physical therapy into its curriculum. During World War I, the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education offered short courses to train reconstruction aides, and by 1925 a separate physical therapy department had been created and students could choose to focus their studies on either physical education or physical therapy.
In 1930 the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education affiliated with Simmons College to enable students to complete a fourth year of classes and earn a B.S. in education. This affiliation lasted until 1942 when the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education affiliated with Tufts University. By 1945 all Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education students earned degrees from Tufts. In 1942 the Posse School Institute, Inc. (Posse), another Massachusetts school of physical education, closed its doors. Posse and the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education made an agreement whereby 18 of Posse's students completed their training at the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education.
In the early 1960s, it became clear that Tufts' and Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education's missions were no longer compatible, so in 1964 the Bouvé-Boston School of Physical Education merged with Northeastern University becoming the coeducational Boston-Bouvé College of Northeastern University. In 1980 the Boston-Bouvé College merged with Northeastern's College of Education to form the Boston-Bouvé College of Human Development Professions. After this merger, the college no longer had a physical education department. In 1992 the school merged with the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions and continues at Northeastern University as the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. The school still provides instruction in physical therapy. |
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