Synchronized Swimming in Ontario, 1920–50s: Gender, Beauty, and Sport

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Wiseman ◽  
Jane Nicholas

This article examines the history of synchronized swimming in Ontario, with a specific focus on Peterborough, between the 1920s and the 1950s. Two factors explain the rise and consolidation of “synchro” as a women’s sport in the period. The first factor relates to earlier changes in women’s sport in the interwar period, alongside the rise of modern hegemonic beauty culture. As synchro struggled for official recognition, coaches and swimmers embraced feminine beauty constructs to generate popularity for their sport. The second factor relates to the nationalistic approach to sport development in the 1940s and 1950s. Financial and ideological investment in sport as important for national health and physical fitness allowed synchro to grow and flourish. As exemplified by the Peterborough club, these two factors allowed Canadian women to play a formative role in the national and international development of synchro as a sport to produce fit and beautiful bodies.

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-325
Author(s):  
Luc Vandeweyer

Deze publicatie door Luc Vandeweyer van de briefwisseling van de Alveringemse kapelaan en Vlaams voorman Cyriel Verschaeve met de uitgesproken Vlaamsgezinde zuster Gabriëlle Van Caeneghem, medegrondlegster van de katholieke Vlaamse Meisjesbeweging en van de vrouwelijke studentenbeweging, bezorgt ons een inzicht in de gevoelswereld van Verschaeve en zijn literaire en mystieke opvattingen. Tegelijk zijn de brieven illustratief voor de sfeer van het mystiek-spirituele wereldbeeld waarin een (kwantitatief en kwalitatief) belangrijk deel van de Vlaamse beweging tijdens het interbellum baadde. Daarenboven blijkt er de verbondenheid uit van beide respondenten met de religieus-socialistisch bewogen geschriften van de Nederlandse dichteres en communiste Henriette Roland Holst-Van der Schalck. Tenslotte wordt in de bijdrage de geschiedenis van deze archiefdocumenten verhaald, als frappante casus hoe archivarissen en/of historiografen soms een ware klopjacht moeten organiseren om belangrijke historische documenten van vernietiging te redden. ________Cyriel Verschaeve to sister Gabriël. Seven letters, saved from destruction at the eleventh hour…Luc Vandeweyer's publication of the correspondence of Cyriel Verschaeve, curate of Alveringem and Flemish-nationalist leader, with the outspoken pro-Flemish sister Gabriël van Caeneghem, co-founder of the Catholic Flemish girls' movement and the movement of women students, provides us with an understanding of the emotional life of Verschaeve and his literary and mystical beliefs. The letters also illustrate the atmosphere of the mystico-religious worldview indulged in by a (quantitatively and qualitatively) large part of the Flemish movement during the Interwar period. It also demonstrates the solidarity of both correspondents with the religio-socialist inspired writings of the Dutch poet and communist Henriette Roland Holst-Van der Schalck. Finally the contribution also describes the history of these archival records, as a striking example of how archivists and/or historiographers sometimes are obliged to organise an actual round up in order to save important historical documents from destruction.


Author(s):  
Huaping Lu-Adler

This book is both a history of philosophy of logic told from the Kantian viewpoint and a reconstruction of Kant’s theory of logic from a historical perspective. Kant’s theory represents a turning point in a history of philosophical debates over the following questions: (1) Is logic a science, instrument, standard of assessment, or mixture of these? (2) If logic is a science, what is the subject matter that differentiates it from other sciences, particularly metaphysics? (3) If logic is a necessary instrument to all philosophical inquiries, how is it so entitled? (4) If logic is both a science and an instrument, how are these two roles related? Kant’s answer to these questions centers on three distinctions: general versus particular logic, pure versus applied logic, pure general logic versus transcendental logic. The true meaning and significance of each distinction becomes clear, this book argues, only if we consider two factors. First, Kant was mindful of various historical views on how logic relates to other branches of philosophy (viz. metaphysics and physics) and to the workings of common human understanding. Second, he first coined “transcendental logic” while struggling to secure metaphysics as a proper “science,” and this conceptual innovation would in turn have profound implications for his mature theory of logic. Against this backdrop, the book reassesses the place of Kant’s theory in the history of philosophy of logic and highlights certain issues that are still debated today, such as normativity of logic and the challenges posed by logical pluralism.


Author(s):  
Estrella Gualda

AbstractA careful look at the international development of Sociology highlights the centrality that the study of social problems and the approach to possible solutions to them have had in the history of this discipline, not infrequently for the sake of better social integration, stability, development, social change or even modernity. Recent approaches suggest shifting this focus of attention, arguing about the deficit in sociological research and practice concerning theor etical frameworks that pay attention to the positive aspects. This text reflects on the contributions that altruism, solidarity, and collective responsibility can have to improve the quality of life in contemporary societies and face humanitarian emergencies with a certain degree of success. For instance, the so-called refugee crisis or the current COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges for societies. This article also explores briefly new roles of data science in connection with responsibility and altruism. The text invites us to revisit sociology, thinking about the lights more than the shadows.


2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. J. CHILVERS

The Marxist history of science has played an enormous role in the development of the history of science. Whether through the appreciation of its insights or the construction of a political fortress to prevent infusion, its presence is felt. From 1931 the work of Marxists played an integral part in the international development of the history of science, though rarely have the connections between them or their own biographies been explored. These networks convey a distinct history, alongside political, methodological and personal implications, impressing on us a greater understanding of the possibilities that were present and were lost in the most turbulent of decades. Two of the most notable were Boris Hessen, a founder of Marxist history of science, and J. G. Crowther, one of its most prolific exponents. My examination explores aspects of the dialogue between these controversial figures, starting with brief biographical sketches. Their lives became briefly entwined following the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in 1931, demonstrated with reference to the meeting and the correspondence between them until Hessen's death. In doing so, some new facts and old controversies surface, though most importantly the nature of the correspondence carries implications for the Marxist history of science and for the wider movement of which it is part. The Russian delegation to the congress declared that science was at a crossroads. The history of science was at a similar crossroads in the 1930s.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
MARC FLANDREAU ◽  
FRÉDÉRIC ZUMER

AbstractThis article shows how one can read political history from evidence on corporate corruption. The study exploits newly discovered archival material from Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, a politically connected investment bank. We contribute to current research by replacing existing conjectures with precise qualitative and quantitative evidence. After reviewing previous works and providing a sketch of information repression and media control in France during the interwar period, we argue that the study of patterns of ‘informational criminality’ provides an original entry to the writing of political history and the history of information.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Tomáš Tlustý

The presented article discusses the history of physical education and sport in local YMCA union in Bratislava during interwar period. The YMCA contributed the popularization of sports, especially basketball and volleyball. Besides them for example table tennis, track and field, heavy athletics or rugby were also popular among its members. Education of swimming and lifesaving was also part of the YMCA activity. This was the way they tried to prevent the every-year accidents on the Danube River. Its activity in the field of physical education and sport increased after finishing of outbuilding of the YMCA center in 1927. In this outbuilding gym, which was used by members to practice especially during winter season, was placed. Winter trainings had positive influence on improvement of player’s skills especially in basketball and volleyball. Sportsman of the YMCA in Bratislava had never become the republic champions though. In the second half of 1930s the physical education and sport in the YMCA in Bratislava started to be less important. After the split of Czechoslovakia in 1938 the Czechoslovakian YMCA was split as well. After that the YMCA in the Slovakia was prohibited. When the WWII ended, the YMCA in Czechoslovakia was restored, nevertheless in the Slovakia it worked separately.


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