Credit: Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia
In the 1820s most American men's universities and secondary schools adopted some form of German style gymnastics. In Philadelphia Mr. Roper's Gymnasium assured the dyspeptic they would find "every manner of contrivance" needed to regain their health. In 1831 Roper opened a school for calisthenics and employed his wife to oversee the classes for women. That spring, the Trustees and the Provost at Penn, concerned that their students health was bring compromised from too much studying made arrangement for a reduced fee that entitled Academy and College students to an hour of gymnastic instruction each day.
