Call Number:

RG6.Q036

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

4 linear ft. (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Women's Athletic Association of Swarthmore College Records, RG6/Q036, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Date:

1902-1963 (inclusive)

Creator:

Swarthmore College. Athletic Association

Abstract:

This collection contains meeting minutes, handbooks, and other records of the Women's Athletic Association of Swarthmore College (WAA), a student organization that held various administrative responsibilities relating to women's athletics. It was founded in 1898 as the Girls' Athletic Club of Swarthmore College. The Women's Athletic Association existed in some form into the 1980s at least.

The Swarthmore College Athletic Association, an organization that served in various administrative roles and functions relating to men's athletics at Swarthmore College, was formed in 1877. The College's Department of Physical Culture came into existence in 1888. A decade later, in 1898, the Girls' Athletic Club of Swarthmore College was established. In 1903, the club changed its name to the Swarthmore Young Women's Athletic Association. "Young" was dropped from the name soon after.

The 1947 Women's Athletic Association (WAA) handbook explains that every female student was automatically a member of the W.A.A. and eligible to vote for a governing Athletic Association Council. According to the constitution, the object of WAA was to encourage interest among women students in athletic activity both during and after college, to accommodate diverse students in athletic activity, to promote intramural and intercollegiate sports, and to uphold good sportsmanship.

The Society of QWIMP was an organization closely associated with WAA. Composed of assistant and former managers of women's teams, it worked to organize managerial tryouts, to coordinate sports, and to assist with large-scale sports events.

There are references in the student newspaper, "The Phoenix," to the continued existence of the Women's Athletic Association through 1989, at least.

This collection contains records of the Women's Athletic Association of Swarthmore College (WAA), a student organization that held various administrative responsibilities relating to women's athletics. Included are meeting minutes, 1902-1931 and 1948-1960; SWAA handbooks, 1947 and 1951; and a few loose documents.