Gym Group

Education in Tennessee evolved as a segregated system. Davidson Academy was exclusively for boys, as was Cumberland College and the University of Nashville. Girls attended schools such as the Nashville Female Academy (est. 1816) to provide instruction in music, oil painting and related coursework for young ladies.  As colleges evolved after the Civil War, schools like Fisk University (est. 1866) were founded to educate newly-freed African Americans.  Gradually, women gained entrance into higher educational institutions like the State Normal School, which trained teachers. Women enjoyed taking classes and were encouraged to exercise in the Ewing Gymnasium, built in 1884 and named for Board of Trust chairman Edwin Ewing. Ewing gym was modeled after European gyms, containing the latest rings, parallel bars, and exercise equipment. The Director of the Gymnasium for Young Women (standing center), was Mary Elizabeth Wiggin Jones.