Abby Shaw Mayhew
A white woman wearing a lacy blouse, in an oval frame
Abby Shaw Mayhew, from a 1916 publication
Born
Abigail Shaw Mayhew

June 11, 1864
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
DiedNovember 2, 1954
Wayzata, Minnesota, US
Occupation(s)Physical educator, college professor

Abigail Shaw Mayhew (June 11, 1864 – November 2, 1954) was an American educator, the first director of physical education for women at the University of Wisconsin. She was first director of the YWCA's Normal School of Physical Education and Hygiene in Shanghai, when it opened in 1915.

Early life and education

Mayhew was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the daughter of Charles Francis Mayhew and Delia Gardner Shaw Mayhew. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1885. She made further studies of physical training at the Sargent Normal School of Physical Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1]

Career

In the United States

From 1892 to 1897, Mayhew was Physical Director of the Young Women's Christian Association of Minneapolis. In 1897,[2] she became Principal of Ladies' Hall and Instructor in Gymnastics for Women at the University of Wisconsin.[3] She held the titles "Assistant Professor of Physical Training" and "Director of Physical Education for Women" at Wisconsin from 1903 to 1912.[4][5] Dance educator Margaret H'Doubler was one of her close colleagues at Wisconsin.[6] She was credited with starting the school's women's field hockey program, and with planning the gymnasium that became Lathrop Hall.[2]

Mayhew made headlines in 1906, when she advocated for the healthfulness of dress reform measures, including open necklines and shorter skirts. "We are never going to be free so long as we wear petticoats," she declared. "Woman will never have perfect freedom in dress until she wears something like the gymnasium costume."[7] She was a member of the Woman's Club of Madison beginning in 1908.[8]

Mayhew spoke about her work in China to American women's groups and community organizations during furloughs,[9][10] and after she retired.[11][12]

In China

Mayhew went to Shanghai in 1912, as a representative of the YWCA, to support the introduction of physical education programs for women.[13] She worked with fellow Wellesley College alumna Ying Mei Chun there,[14][15] and directed the YWCA's Normal School of Physical Education and Hygiene when it opened in 1915.[1][16] The school eventually became part of Ginling College.[17]

Mayhew was head of the YWCA's Hostess House[18] in Shanghai, from 1924 until she retired in the 1930s.[12][19] Her work there was described in 1930: "she meets, entertains, and helps interpret the Chinese people to hundreds of guests from all over the world."[20] She attended the wedding of her friend Soong Mei-ling to Chiang Kai-shek in Shanghai in 1927.[21]

Publications

  • "Returns on Investment in an Ideal Gymnasium" (1911)
  • "Beginnings in Physical Education in China" (1913)[22]
  • "Physical Education in China" (1916)[14]
  • "Pioneering Physical Education for the Women of China" (1918)[23]

Personal life

Mayhew died in 1954, at the age of 90, at her home in Wayzata, Minnesota.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 Vaughn, Katherine E. (October 1941). "Abby Shaw Mayhew". Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. 12 (sup3): 700–703. doi:10.1080/10671188.1941.10624717. ISSN 1067-1188.
  2. 1 2 "Founder to Find Dreams of 1897 Realities of 1935; First Women's Physical Education Director". Wisconsin State Journal. 1935-03-31. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Abby S. Mayhew" The '99 Badger (1898): 34.
  4. ↑ "Abbie Shaw Mayhew, Professor of Physical Training". UW-Madison Libraries. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  5. ↑ "Abby Shaw Mayhew to be Honored at Tea Tuesday". Wisconsin State Journal. 1943-10-31. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Ross, Janice (2012). Moving Lessons: Margaret H'Doubler and the Beginning of Dance in American Education. University of Wisconsin Pres. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-299-16933-6.
  7. ↑ "Peek-a-boo Waists are Championed; a Wisconsin WOman Comes Boldly Out for the Summer Fad". Palladium-Item. 1906-07-29. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Year Book of the Woman's Club of Madison, Wisconsin. 1910–1911. p. 18.
  9. ↑ "Miss Mayhew Back from China". The Capital Times. 1918-05-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Former U. W. Faculty Member Aids China Miss Abby Mayhew Tells Badger Audiences of Famine Terror". Wisconsin State Journal. 1921-04-24. p. 27. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Woman's Club to Hear U Professor Talk on 'Horoscope of Mars' at International Relations Meeting". The Minneapolis Star. 1931-11-21. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 "Congregational Guild to Hear Abby S. Mayhew, Returned from Shanghai". The Capital Times. 1944-03-26. p. 23. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Wilson, Elizabeth (1916). Fifty Years of Association Work Among Young Women, 1866-1916: A History of Young Women's Christian Associations in the United States of America. National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations of the United States of America. p. 309.
  14. 1 2 Mayhew, Abby Shaw (December 1916). "Physical Education in China". The Association Monthly. 10 (11): 489–492.
  15. ↑ "With Our Secretaries Abroad: From Restless China". The Association Monthly. 10 (7). August 1916.
  16. ↑ "Abby Shaw Mayhew Back". Wisconsin State Journal. 1922-06-13. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Educational Notes and Intelligence". China Journal of Science and Arts. 2 (5): 491. September 1924.
  18. ↑ "Hostess Houses for Cities". The War Work Bulletin (62): 4. February 28, 1919.
  19. ↑ Keyes, Frances Parkinson (May 1926). "The Sparkle of Shanghai". Good Housekeeping. 82: 219.
  20. ↑ "Abby Shaw Mayhew Arrives in Vancouver; May Visit Madison". The Capital Times. 1930-11-17. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "From Shanghai Life to Color at Table Range of Womens' Group Discussions". The Capital Times. 1944-03-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Mayhew, Abby Shaw (May 1913). "Beginnings in Physical Education in China". The Association Monthly. 7 (4): 165–166.
  23. ↑ Mayhew, Abby Shaw (October 1918). "Pioneering Physical Education for the Women of China". The Association Monthly. 12 (10): 391.
  24. ↑ "Abby Shaw Mayhew, Formerly of U.W., Dies". Wisconsin State Journal. 1954-11-05. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via Newspapers.com.
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