203 
 MYM5 
 
 Metzner 
 
 Brief History of the 
 North American Gymnastic Union'
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 This book is DU T
 
 Copyright, 1911 
 
 By The National Executive Committee of the 
 North American Gymnastic Union.
 
 GV 
 
 Zo^ 
 
 NY MS" 
 
 - FOREWORD 
 
 XT HAS been justly said that the North American 
 Gymnastic Union, although it has been in exist- 
 ence for over sixty years and has always taken 
 an active interest in public affairs, as a national organi- 
 zation has kept its light under a bushel. The reason 
 for this may chiefly be found in the fact that the official 
 language of the Turners is the German language, the 
 furtherance of which has always been one of their aims. 
 The Executive Committee of the Gymnastic Union 
 is of the opinion that the history of the Turnerbund is of 
 sufficient interest to warrant its publication in book form. 
 The history was written by Henry Metzner of North 
 Branch, New Jersey, who has been identified for over 
 half a century with the Turner organization. The 
 translation from the German was made by Theo. Stemp- 
 fel, Jr., of Indianapolis. The article on the influence of 
 the Turners on Gymnastics in public schools was con- 
 tributed by Wm. A. Stecher, director of physical training 
 in the public schools of Philadelphia. 
 
 It seems appropriate to publish the book at this time 
 as the year 1911 marks the one-hundredth anniversary 
 of the opening of the first gymnastic field in Berlin. 
 This may well be regarded as the real beginning of the 
 playground movement which in late years has also taken 
 root in this country. 
 
 THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE 
 NORTH AMERICAN GYMNASTIC UNION 
 
 Indianapolis, Indiana, June, 191 1.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn 5 
 
 Three Pioneers of German-American Gymnastics 1 2 
 
 A Brief History of the North American Gymnas- 
 tic Union 22 
 
 The Establishment of the Turnerbund - - 22 
 
 The Gvil War Period 36 
 
 The Turnerbund After the Civil War - 43 
 
 The Influence of the North American Gymnas- 
 tic Union on Gymnastics in the Public 
 
 Schools - 54 
 
 History of the Normal College of the North 
 
 American Gymnastic Union - 59 
 
 Conclusion - - - - - - - 61
 
 FRIEDRICH LUDWIG JAHN 
 
 IN THE spring of the year 1811, on the 
 Hasenheide, near Berlin, Friedrich Ludwig 
 Jahn established the first Tumplatz* an 
 open field for the practice of physical 
 training. This incident has acquired special signifi- 
 cance, for it marked the introduction of that type of 
 physical training, based upon Jahn's ideals, which has 
 met with so much success and has found so many loyal 
 followers at the present time. It is indeed appropriate 
 that the centennial anniversary of such an important 
 event in the history of physical education should be 
 elaborately celebrated, not only abroad, but also in the 
 United States. 
 
 Jahn was prompted to undertake the practical appli- 
 cation of his theories for immediate reasons. Napoleon, 
 the political oppressor, had reduced Germany to a state 
 of servile humiliation. By encouraging bodily exercise 
 and fostering patriotic ideals in his students, Jahn hoped 
 to supply his country with a body of young men inspired 
 with patriotism and a love for freedom who, at the call 
 to arms, would willingly sacrifice their lives to liberate 
 Germany from the tyranny of a foreign state. 
 
 This was perhaps the period of the deepest humilia- 
 tion in the history of Germany. After the disastrous 
 battle of Jena, October 14, 1806, it was not alone the 
 iron rule of the seemingly unconquerable French dic- 
 tator which contributed toward the national gloom. 
 Even the most inspired patriots among the people, 
 
 *A term coined by Jahn. The verb lumen (to perform gymnastic exercises) 
 is of foreign origin, although Jahn considered it a genuine German word. Turner 
 gymnast; TurnerbunJ- gymnastic union ; Turn/tit gymnastic festival; Turnoerrin, 
 or T'umtfeme/We gymnastic society.
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 wrote with confidence of the time when all his hopes 
 for a new, free and unified Germany would be realized. 
 
 In 1810 we find him teaching at the school which he 
 himself had attended in his youth, the Gymnasium Zum 
 Grauen Kloster, and later, in the same year, at the Plamann 
 Institute. His most important book, "Deutsches Volks- 
 thum" (German Nationality), appeared at this time, and 
 his plea for the unity of -Germany was universally com- 
 mented upon and heartily applauded. Furthermore, this 
 year marks the beginning of his first practical attempts 
 to introduce gymnastic exercises among his students, 
 to infuse them with a patriotic love for freedom, to 
 make them capable of bearing arms for their oppressed 
 country, and to prepare them for the imminent war of 
 liberation. ' 
 
 As noted above, the first public Tumplatz was opened 
 by Jahn in the spring of the year 1811. The boys and 
 young men of Berlin, five hundred strong, responded to 
 his call and followed him to the Hasenheide, where they 
 indulged in gymnastic exercises under his direction. In 
 spite of the freedom which he accorded to his scholars, 
 Jahn was a stern disciplinarian in many respects, and 
 compelled them to maintain good order and to observe 
 good manners. 
 
 On November 14th of that year, Jahn, Friesen and 
 other men of like sympathies founded the Deutschen 
 Bund, an organization with the purpose of defying the 
 domination of their country by an alien power. The 
 personnel of its membership was to be drawn from the 
 German universities. This Bund inspired the founding 
 of the Deutsche Burschenhaft, an association of students 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 banded together for patriotic motives, which played such 
 a prominent part in the political crisis of later years. 
 
 Jahn and his Turners were among the first to respond 
 to the call to arms issued by King William III of Prussia, 
 on March 17, 1813, and in the campaign which followed 
 they demonstrated their fitness as soldiers as members 
 of the Landwehr, a voluntary military organization 
 which they helped to establish. Owing to sickness, Jahn 
 was forced to withdraw from this body before the close 
 of the campaign, but as a reward for his services the 
 government bestowed upon him an honorary salary of 
 500 Taler, which was later increased to 800 Taler. 
 
 In August of the year 1814 he was married to Helene 
 Kollhof. Although he did not take part in the war 
 against France in 1815, he was called to Paris upon the 
 recapture of that city by the allied forces. In the follow- 
 ing year his second great book, " Deutsche Turnkunst * 
 (German Gymnastics), appeared in print. In the winter 
 following the publication of this book Jahn mounted the 
 public platform, where he gave courageous expression 
 to the dissatisfaction that was felt on all sides because 
 the government did not redeem the promise of a consti- 
 tution given to the people previous to the resumption of 
 the successful campaign against Napoleon. 
 
 His uncompromising attitude on this point, although 
 it won him many admirers among the people, did not 
 gain him the good will of the government. This, together 
 with the demonstrations of the Burschenschaften, which 
 were attributed to his influence, ultimately led to the 
 closing of his Tumplatz, a procedure to which similar 
 organizations were subjected all over Germany. 
 
 In 1819 the dramatist and literary critic, Kotzebue, met 
 
 (9)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 his death at the hand of Karl Sand, a fanatic student 
 and member of the Jena Burschenschaft. As Kotzebue 
 was in the employ of the Russian Czar, and bitterly 
 opposed to the student organizations, his death was 
 regarded as the result of an organized conspiracy among 
 these societies. Therefore Jahn and his Turners were 
 suspected of being accomplices in the assassination. 
 Among the prohibitory regulations issued by the govern- 
 ment as the result of this assassination was one which 
 limited Turning in an organized manner to a prohibitive 
 degree. 
 
 In July of the year 1819 Jahn was placed under 
 arrest on the charge of high treason, and the trial was 
 delayed for five years until January 1 3, 1 824, -when he 
 was sentenced to two years* confinement in a fortress 
 because of the disrespectful and derogatory remarks 
 which he supposedly had made in alluding to the 
 administration of the state. Jahn immediately drew up 
 his self-defense in pamphlet form, upon which his sen- 
 tence was revoked, and he was given his liberty. In 
 the years which followed, until 1840, when Friedrich 
 Wilhelm IV mounted the Prussian throne, Jahn was 
 under the continuous suspicion of political demagogy, 
 and though he lead a quiet, retired life, devoting himself 
 to literary pursuits in his field, he was forced to seek out 
 many new residences because of the pitiless political 
 espionage and persecution to which he was subjected. 
 
 In August of the year 1 838 his house was destroyed 
 by fire and his rich library as well as his numerous man- 
 uscripts were consumed by the flames. The Turners of 
 Germany instituted a popular subscription and this 
 enabled him to erect a new home upon his own prop- 
 
 (10)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 erty. With the inauguration of the new king, Jahn was 
 freed entirely of the strict surveillance on the part of the 
 police, and subsequently the Iron Cross was bestowed up- 
 on him, a delayed appreciation of his valorous conduct 
 in battle. The interdict on Turning was removed in 
 1 842, and immediately numerous Turning societies were 
 organized in various parts of Germany whose members 
 found a mutual bond in their patriotic sentiments. 
 
 When the dissatisfaction caused by the misrule, and 
 the utter indifference of the government to the popular 
 demand for a constitution, which had been often prom- 
 ised, infused the people with the spirit of the French Rev- 
 olution and culminated in the revolutionary outbreaks of 
 the year 1 848, Jahn was again thrust into public life as 
 an elected representative to the National German Parlia- 
 ment at Frankfort on the Main. But Jahn, the leader of 
 the year 1811, was not emancipated to the level of this 
 new aggressive spirit and failed to redeem the faith that 
 was placed in him by his champions. The ambitions 
 of the revolutionists were beyond his vision, and his 
 period of enlightened leadership had become a record 
 of the past. And so, at the second Turnfestival in 
 Hanau, in July of 1 848, he found himself estranged from 
 his own Turners who did not sympathize with his atti- 
 tude in the Parliament. And Jahn, embittered and mis- 
 understood, withdrew himself to Freiburg, where he 
 died October 15, 1852. 
 
 The Jahn of the year '48 has been forgotten; his 
 memory has been dimmed in the light of Turnvater 
 Jahn, the glowing patriot who revived the art of German 
 gymnastics, and was influential as was no other single 
 man in enkindling the youth of his country for the war 
 
 (11)
 
 ./? Brief History of the 
 
 of liberation. As such, and as the author of "Deutsches 
 Volkstum," "Deutsche Turnkunst," and various other 
 kindling articles and pamphlets aiming at the culti- 
 vation of a healthy body and inaugurating the principle 
 of German unity, he is honored today. 
 
 His greatest contribution to society no doubt, is his 
 service in the field of physical training, which has found 
 so many exponents and followers and has spread its 
 influence over alien lands. The centennial anniversary 
 of the first Turnplatz seeks to give due tribute to the 
 memory of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn as pioneer in the 
 field of physical training and to accord him recognition 
 for his gift to humanity. 
 
 THREE PIONEERS OF GERMAN-AMERICAN 
 GYMNASTICS 
 
 The centennial celebration of the opening of the first 
 Turnplatz has a vital significance for this country. It is no 
 exaggeration to assert that the greater portion of all physi- 
 cal training systems practiced in the public schools of the 
 present day, at the universities and colleges, in the clubs 
 and the schools devoted solely to that end are based on 
 the theories of German gymnastics. That this is so 
 is due to the pioneer work of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn 
 and of his disciples, Carl Beck, Carl Follen and Francis 
 Lieber, who fled to this country during the political tur- 
 moil in Germany which followed the overthrow of the 
 foreign tyrant, Napoleon. 
 
 Upon rehearsing a history of German-American 
 gymnastics, no matter how brief and concise, three 
 eminent German scholars and disciples of Jahn, Carl 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 Beck, Carl Follen and Francis Lieber, will always remain 
 pre-eminent and worthy of special mention. In order to 
 evade the persistent espionage and the political persecu- 
 tion to which they were exposed as prominent members 
 of the Burschenschaft, these men fled the confines of their 
 fatherland and crossed the Atlantic to the land of liberty, 
 where they were the first to introduce Jahn's system of 
 physical training, and to incorporate it in the liberal 
 education of the colleges and universities. 
 
 It was not their immediate or even their ultimate 
 ambition to establish gymnastic societies on American 
 soil, such as existed in Germany at that time, but they 
 were pioneers in the sense that they established gym- 
 nasiums, based on German models, equipped with 
 German apparatus, and thus they cleared the way for 
 the attempt to train the body as well as the mind in the 
 American institutions of learning. Their success was 
 not lasting, for when they were no longer personally 
 identified with this movement, the practice of gymnas- 
 tics was gradually discontinued or directed into other 
 channels. But this does not lessen the service of Beck, 
 Follen and Lieber, for they remain the pioneers of 
 German-American gymnastics. 
 
 Carl Beck was born August 1 9, 1 798, in Heidelberg, 
 Germany. When in 1810 the family moved to Berlin, 
 where Beck's step-father occupied the chair of theology, 
 young Beck, who attended the gymnasium, distinguished 
 himself as an unusually active Turner on the Hasenheide 
 and gained the immediate friendship of Jahn. He was 
 too young to take service in the campaigns against 
 Napoleon, but later in life, as a student and member of 
 
 (13)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 the Burschenschaft, he was active in the struggle for per- 
 sonal freedom and national independence. 
 
 Beck completed his studies at the University of 
 Heidelberg in 1 822; was ordained as Lutheran minister 
 and received the degree of doctor of philosophy from 
 the University of Tuebingen. His step- father, De Wette, 
 had sometime previously been banished to Switzerland, 
 because he had -written a letter to the mother of Sand, 
 the assassin of Kotzebue, and Beck moved to that country 
 where he became professor of literature and Latin at the 
 Paedagogium in Basel. With Carl Pollen he had par- 
 ticipated actively as a Turner and member of the Burschen- 
 schaft in the movement which aimed at the liberation of 
 Germany and the emancipation of its people from a 
 government under the tyrannical guidance of the omnip- 
 otent Metternich, the Austrian minister. 
 
 Carl Pollen, born in Giessen, September 3, 1 795, 
 was the second oldest of three brothers. The three 
 enlisted in the army, and at the close of the campaign 
 against the French Emperor, together with a number of 
 like-minded friends, they were charged with demagogy 
 and became the victims of political persecution. Carl 
 Pollen wrote a defense of the Burschenschaft, published 
 a number of highly poetic songs on Turning and Lib- 
 erty, and fearlessly maintained the cause of the Hessian 
 people against their government. He managed to escape 
 arrest by his flight to Paris and from there to Basel, where 
 he accepted a position as teacher. 
 
 When the Prussian government could not prevail 
 upon Switzerland to deliver Beck and Pollen into its 
 hands, and threatened war in order to attain this object, 
 the two political refugees were finally forced to look for 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 another place of safety. America was the promised 
 land, and after obtaining letters of recommendation 
 from General Lafayette in Paris, they took passage for 
 their new home, and arrived in New York on Christmas 
 day, 1824. 
 
 The personal appearance of Beck inspired confidence 
 and this, together with the letters of recommendation, 
 soon enabled him to obtain a position that was well 
 suited to his tastes and talents. With J. G. Cogswell, an 
 eminent scholar, and George Bancroft, the famous his- 
 torian, he established a boy's school at the summit of 
 Round Hill, in Northampton, Massachusetts. During 
 his five years of activity at this institution, he gained rec- 
 ognition as a teacher, and established the first gymnasium 
 in America based on Jahn's models. During this period 
 he also translated into English Jahn's book, "Deutsche 
 Turnkunst," and published it in Northampton. 
 
 Carl Pollen was active as a teacher in the Round Hill 
 school until 1826, when he was called to Harvard as 
 professor of church history, and later of German language 
 and literature. At this university, Pollen introduced 
 German gymnastics, and established the second gym- 
 nasium in this country, based on the principles of Jahn. 
 
 The influence of the Round Hill school spread still 
 further, and in September of the year 1826, Yale granted 
 the sum of $300 for the endowment of a gymnastic field 
 and for the purchase of gymnastic apparatus to be placed 
 on the college campus. At the same time, the brothers 
 Devight opened the "New Haven Gymnasium," in 
 which gymnastic exercises were given a prominent 
 part. In 1 828 a number of Amherst students established 
 
 (15)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 a Tumplatz which was fairly well equipped with gymnastic 
 apparatus of German invention. All these gymnasiums 
 can be attributed to the example of Beck and Pollen. 
 
 Owing to the efforts of Dr. John Collins Warren, a 
 follower and promoter of the system of physical training 
 introduced by Beck and Pollen, the Tremont gymnasium 
 was established. Dr. Warren, who had become ac- 
 quainted with Jahn's activity in Germany, through his 
 friendly intercourse with these two disciples, had con- 
 ceived the idea of obtaining the services of Jahn himself 
 to conduct this gymnasium, but lack of funds prevented 
 him from carrying this idea beyond its mere conception. 
 Dr. Francis Lieber, the third of the German pioneers in 
 the field of physical training, was obtained to fill this 
 vacancy. 
 
 In spite of the many successes with which Beck, Pollen 
 and Lieber met in the department of gymnastics soon 
 after they established themselves on American soil, their 
 influence was not vital enough to be enduring. For 
 Turning, in the sense that Jahn conceived it, there existed 
 neither the right comprehension nor the favorable condi- 
 tions under which it had flourished in Germany. "The 
 introduction of gymnastic exercises throughout the 
 country," writes Dr. Warren, "promised for a time to be 
 the beginning of a new epoch of education. As long as 
 they charmed by their novelty these exercises were pur- 
 sued with zest, but since their value and importance was 
 not generally understood, they were gradually neglected, 
 and finally forgotten. However, the results which these 
 institutions accomplished excelled, in my opinion, the 
 most extravagant expectations." 
 
 After some years Beck, Pollen and Lieber found them- 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 selves forced to drop the teaching of gymnastics. Their 
 eminent erudition in other branches of knowledge 
 directed their activities into different channels, where 
 they gained influence, distinction and a reputation far 
 beyond the confines of their second home. 
 
 In 1 82 7 Dr. Beck married Miss Louise A. Henshaw. 
 In 1830 he erected his own school in Phillipstown on 
 the Hudson, and from 1832 until 1850 he was active at 
 the University of Harvard. Upon resigning his professor- 
 ship at Harvard he devoted himself eagerly to his duties 
 as a citizen and to his private studies. He was elected 
 twice to the state legislature, and was a member of sev- 
 eral literary societies. He visited Germany three times, 
 partly in order to recuperate and partly for literary 
 research. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted 
 as a private in a company of Cambridge volunteers, but 
 was finally rejected on account of his advanced age 
 which, however, did not prevent him from fitting out 
 hundreds of soldiers with his own means and sending 
 them into the field of battle. He died March 19, 1866. 
 
 Carl Pollen became a member of the Harvard faculty 
 in 1831, where he held the chair of German language 
 and literature for five years. At the same time he gave 
 lectures in New York and Boston on the German poets, 
 which were attended with great success. It was through 
 his influence that the German language and literature took 
 such deep root in the intellectual circles of New England 
 at that time. In 1833 he became a member of the anti- 
 slavery society, and thus he forfeited his re-appointment 
 to Harvard university. 
 
 His "Address to the American People," which he had 
 written at the request of the anti-slavery society, appeared 
 
 ( 17)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 in 1836, and in this he laid down the principles upon 
 which this society maintained its attitude toward the 
 question of the day. The pamphlet made a deep 
 impression, but called forth vehement opposition on the 
 part of the pro-slavery press, which reproached him for 
 hurling firebrands into the social and political life of 
 his new fatherland. Pollen replied energetically, and 
 asserted his right to maintain those very principles in 
 his new home which he had defended in his native land 
 and which had resulted in his flight from political perse- 
 cution. 
 
 Follen was ordained as Unitarian minister and was 
 the head of a congregation in New York in this capacity 
 until 1 838, when he accepted a call to East Lexington. 
 A great portion of his time was devoted to his literary 
 and political lectures and to other literary pursuits. The 
 translation of his revolutionary songs written during the 
 storm and stress period of Germany is worthy of special 
 notice. 
 
 In the winter of the year 1 840, he accepted an invita- 
 tion to lectuVe on German literature before the New York 
 Mercantile Library. He was forced to discontinue these 
 lectures in order to attend the dedication of the newly 
 built church at Lexington. On February 1 3, 1 840, he 
 embarked on the steamboat Lexington, which was to 
 convey him home. That night the ship caught fire, and, 
 with the exception of two sailors, everyone on board 
 was either drowned or burned to death. 
 
 The tragic death of Follen called forth general sym- 
 pathy, and even his bitterest opponents on the question 
 of slavery shared the general sorrow which followed his 
 unfortunate death. 
 
 ( 18)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 Francis Lieber, the third of the Turner pioneers, was 
 born in Berlin, March 1 8, 1 800. He too felt the tyranny 
 of alien domination and caught the enthusiasm which 
 inspired the people to revolt. At a very impressionable 
 period of his life he became one of the devoted fol- 
 lowers of Jahn. When the call to arms resounded 
 throughout the land in March of the year 1815, he and 
 his brother were among the first of the many young men 
 who enlisted to fight against Napoleon upon his return 
 from Elba. At the victorious close of this memorable 
 campaign, during which he was severely wounded 
 several times, he eagerly resumed his studies. 
 
 His intimacy with Jahn and his love for freedom 
 resulted in political persecution, and finally in arrest. 
 Since attendance at a Prussian university was denied 
 him, he completed his studies at Jena. As it was impossi- 
 ble for a man of his convictions to entertain any hope 
 of ever being employed in the service of the state, he 
 allied himself with a number of young men in Dresden 
 who had organized a society in order to take part in the 
 Grecian struggle for independence against the Turks. 
 
 Bitter disappointment followed upon his previous 
 enthusiasm, for during his three months stay in Greece 
 he came to respect the Turks more than the Grecians, 
 whom he had come to liberate, and with a number of 
 other disillusioned young men left Greece. Without 
 means and without passports he arrived in Rome, where 
 he applied for help at the Prussian ministry, which at 
 that time was headed by the famous historian, Niebuhr, 
 who took an immediate interest in young Lieber and 
 entrusted him with the education of his youngest son. 
 
 Niebuhr interceded with King Friedrich Wilhelm III 
 
 (19)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 in behalf of the young man. Under pledge of im- 
 munity from the Prussian monarch, Lieber returned to 
 Berlin after he had spent a year in Rome. Even the 
 promises of kings sometimes prove elusive pledges to 
 build upon, for immediately upon his arrival in Berlin, 
 Lieber was arrested and taken to the fortress Koepe- 
 nick. Although Niebuhr was successful in gaining him 
 his freedom, Lieber did not feel safe in Germany and 
 sailed for London, and eventually from there for America, 
 where he arrived in the year 1827. 
 
 He first located at Tremont, where he interested him- 
 self in gymnastics. Later he founded a swimming school 
 in Boston, a new departure in the educational field, and 
 John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, paid 
 a personal visit to this novel establishment. Lieber's 
 thorough and general knowledge gained for him the 
 esteem and respect of all educational and political cir- 
 cles, as well as the friendship of many eminent scholars, 
 authors and statesmen. During the civil war he spent 
 a large portion of his time in Washington, where he 
 became an intimate advisor of the administration on 
 questions of military and international law. 
 
 He acquired a reputation as an authority on the 
 problems of the day and on all questions touching upon 
 political science. His first great work appeared in 1837, 
 under the title "Manual of Political Ethics." It was fol- 
 lowed by "Legal and Political Hermaneutics" (1 839), and 
 "Civil Liberty and Self-Government" (1853). Of these 
 three, which are considered his greatest works, the last- 
 named has become the most popular. His last literary 
 work, "The Origin of the Constitution of the United 
 States," remained unfinished at the time of his death, 
 October 2, 1872. 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 The motto above the door of the study of Francis 
 Lieber read: 
 
 PatriaCara. 
 
 Carior Libertas, 
 Veritas Carissima. " 
 
 It was also the motto of his life, for it was the motive 
 in all of his activities. No matter how dear his native 
 land, liberty was more precious to Francis Lieber, and 
 truth he prized as the highest ideal of all. 
 
 Those who are in any way identified with or interested 
 in German-American gymnastics of the present day, have 
 good reason to be proud of its three pioneers, Beck, 
 Follen and Lieber. In their love for the adopted father- 
 land they dedicated to it the full sum of their rich 
 knowledge, and spared no energy in the cause of 
 patriotism. 
 
 (21)
 
 Britf History of the 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NORTH 
 AMERICAN GYMNASTIC UNION 
 
 German-American gymnastics, as embodied in the 
 North American Gymnastic Union, date back to the mid- 
 dle of the last century, the history of the Union embracing 
 over sixty years of tireless activity. Since the days of its 
 beginning, when the ambitious and inspired young men, 
 imbued with the spirit of progress and freedom, trans- 
 planted the ideals of Jahn to American soil, this organiza- 
 tion has cleared its own path and, in spite of numerous 
 internal and external conflicts, has never lost sight of 
 the ultimate goal. 
 
 The impetuosity of the early days has made way for 
 the thoughtful deliberation of later years, to which the 
 Turnerbund owes its flourishing Normal College, its many 
 successful turning schools, its influence upon the public 
 school system throughout the land, as well as the spirit 
 of unity and brotherhood, which inspires the individual 
 members. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TURNERBUND 
 
 The first gymnastic societies in the United States 
 were organized toward the close of the year 1 848. Until 
 the middle of the fifties all of these societies owed their 
 organization and their flourishing state to the many Ger- 
 man immigrants, who came to this country when the 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 revolutionary movement in Germany in 1 848- 1 849 was 
 suppressed. For all those who had been friendly to the 
 cause of the people were forced to flee from their native 
 land in order to escape persecution and the pressure of 
 the reaction. Among the thousands of political refugees 
 that fled to American soil, there were many who had 
 been members of a Tumoerein, who prized the cause of 
 turning, and who were eager to establish it in their new 
 home. 
 
 Although there was no legislative barrier to the 
 founding of these organizations, the influence of the 
 Know-Nothing party, narrow minded, puritanical and 
 opposed to everything foreign, was used against these 
 societies. These men who had sacrificed all for their 
 ideals, and had come to this country as political refugees, 
 were not received with open arms, but were regarded by 
 many with mistrust and suspicion. It was not easy for 
 them to overcome these barriers and to establish gym- 
 nastic societies. 
 
 The oldest Tumverein in the United States which 
 flourishes to the present day, is the Cincinnati Tumgemeinde, 
 founded November 21,1 848, at the instigation of Fried- 
 rich Hecker. The Nei York Tumgemeinde was also 
 organized in 1 848. The Philadelphia Tumgemeinde, which 
 today is considered one of the strongest societies in the 
 Bund, was founded May 15, 1849. Internal dissensions 
 arose, and the dissatisfied members established the 
 Sociale Tumgemeinde in November of that year. A third 
 society, the Socialer Tumverein, was organized at almost 
 the same time. Several months after the gymnastic 
 festival of the Bund, in 1 854, these three societies com- 
 bined to organize the Socialdemofyatischc Tumgemeinde. 
 
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 ,/f Brief History of the 
 
 A society with a similar name was founded in Baltimore 
 in 1 849. Very little is known of the Sodalistischer Turn- 
 Verein of Brooklyn, established in 1850 and dissolved 
 during the civil war. On June 6, 1850, the Sodalistischer 
 Turnverein of New York was founded. 
 
 These six societies had barely gained a foothold 
 when they established a Tumerbund. The Sodalistischer 
 Turnverein of New York gave the first impetus to this 
 end in its resolution of July 15, 1850, urging a closer 
 union of all the societies in order to insure their own 
 existence, to protect the common interests and to give a 
 basis for mutual cooperation. A plan of organization 
 presented by the representatives of the New York and 
 Brooklyn societies was accepted, and it was further 
 resolved to invite representatives of all the societies to 
 a convention (Tagsatzung), which was finally held in the 
 home of the Philadelphia Tumgemeinde on the 4th and 5th 
 of October, 1850. Many differences of opinion came 
 to light at this first meeting, particularly on political 
 questions, for one party wished to make the promotion 
 of Socialism* one of the main functions of the organi- 
 zation. The other faction advocated that the Turnverein 
 should confine itself solely to physical training. On one 
 point, however, all were agreed, that the Turnerband 
 should manifest a tendency toward freethought in the 
 broadest sense. 
 
 The first year of the gymnastic union did not pass 
 as smoothly as had been hoped. The societies had 
 not come to realize their duties toward the central organi- 
 zation and barely heeded the proclamation of the pro- 
 visional central executive committee. The Philadelphia 
 
 * For a definition of Socialism, as understood by the Turners of that time, see 
 page 46. 
 
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 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 Tumge.me.inde. invited all the societies to take part in a 
 general gymnastic festival to be held in that city Sep- 
 tember 29 and 30, 1851, and the executive committee 
 took advantage of this opportunity to call together a 
 second convention. 
 
 The Tumfest and the convention proved to be com- 
 plete successes, according to the first number of the 
 Tumzeitung, the official organ of the Bund. At the 
 convention the following societies were represented : 
 New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Utiea, Philadel- 
 phia and Newark. The Indianapolis Turngemeinde, as well 
 as the Rochester Turnoerein, had signified their intention 
 of joining the Turnerbund. After a heated debate it was 
 finally decided to name the organization Socialistischer 
 Turnerbund. The most important resolution was un- 
 doubtedly that which called for the establishment of a 
 newspaper which was to be the official organ of the 
 union, and was to be kept free of all personal polemics 
 and of any tendency toward partisanship. The societies 
 were reminded of their duty to maintain the practice of 
 military drill. 
 
 When the Turnerbund had finally been assured of a 
 permanent organization, the practice of the German 
 system of physical training was gradually taken up by 
 all the large cities in the land. Even in the South, 
 although the Germans were not so numerous as they 
 were farther north in the East and in the West, and 
 although the Turnerbund was not in accord with the 
 South on the question of slavery, many gymnastic soci- 
 eties were organized. These societies had become the 
 gathering places for the Germans. Vehement opposi- 
 tion toward these so-called "aliens" was gradually evinced 
 
 (25)
 
 Jl Brief History of the 
 
 by the fanatic party press, and from the pulpit they were 
 scored for their un-Christian conduct and attitude. As 
 a result of this many-sided opposition, the Turnoereine 
 gathered strength and gradually gained influence and 
 the respect of fair-minded citizens. 
 
 It is characteristic of those days that the revolutionary 
 tendency which had driven these men from their father- 
 land was still maintained. Political refugees received 
 their support; an agitation was on foot to encourage their 
 erstwhile brothers to renewed revolutionary demonstra- 
 tions; the resolution by which the societies were urged 
 to continue the practice of arms was prompted by a 
 desire to return to Germany at the first sign of an 
 outbreak, and to take an active part in the uprising of 
 the people. 
 
 The Turnzeitung of November 15, 1851, showed that 
 22 societies had been organized in the United States, of 
 which 1 1 had joined the Turnerbund, and that the total 
 membership of these Turnoereine amounted to 1,672. 
 Much space in this paper was devoted to the practice of 
 physical training and to illustrated articles on this subject. 
 The larger societies established turning schools, and the 
 first attempts were made to initiate boys and girls in this 
 new practice. 
 
 Physical training bore the stamp of Jahn's time. 
 There were no professional teachers of physical training, 
 and classes were conducted by those best qualified. The 
 gymnastic apparatus was of primitive and awkward con- 
 struction in comparison with that of to-day. 
 
 In the year 1852 two gymnastic festivals were held, 
 one in Baltimore and one in Cincinnati. Thirty societies 
 were represented at the convention held in conjunction 
 
 (26)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 with the Turnfest in Cincinnati. A resolution was passed 
 at this meeting by which each gymnastic society was 
 forced to subscribe for as many copies of the Turnzeitung 
 as it had members. This resolution later became the 
 bone of bitter contention. 
 
 The book on gymnastics which was published in 
 1853 under the title " Das Turnen," did not meet with 
 the popular success which had been expected for it. It 
 had been written by Eduard Mueller with the hope that 
 it would help the smaller gymnastic societies in the 
 practice of physical training, but it contained so many 
 technicalities of language that it proved of no value to 
 those who were not acquainted with the terms applied 
 to the many physical exercises. 
 
 Gymnastic festivals were held in Louisville and 
 in New York in the year 1853, and in September of the 
 same year a convention was called at Cleveland. At 
 this time the TurnerbunJ was divided into five districts, 
 according to locality. An executive committee was 
 placed at the head of each district, and these in turn 
 made their reports to the central organization. 
 
 At the convention in Cleveland it had been resolved 
 to urge the establishment of non-sectarian German 
 schools. Many societies sought to realize this ambition 
 and either organized Schuhereine (school societies) or lent 
 their financial support to those which were already in 
 existence. Many a German-American school of that 
 time owed its success to the energy and efforts of the 
 Turnoereine, which thus honored German traditions. 
 
 The otherwise extremely successful Turnfest in Phila- 
 delphia, 1854, at which calisthenics and apparatus 
 turning by divisions were first introduced, was attended 
 
 (27)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 with unpleasant disturbances. The town rowdies and 
 loafers gathered at the outskirts of the festival grounds 
 on Lemon Hill, and sought in various ways to disturb 
 the gymnasts. The jeering and hooting grew to such 
 volume that the Turners saw themselves forced to reply 
 with physical violence, whereupon a hand to hand battle 
 ensued in which many were seriously wounded. Eleven 
 of the Turners were indicted by the grand jury, but 
 towards the end of January, 1855, after repeated post- 
 ponements, the case was finally dropped. 
 
 The convention in Pittsburg, September 1 1 and 
 12, 1854, is comparatively uninteresting. Although the 
 Bund embraced 62 societies, the report was somewhat 
 unfavorable, particularly as to finances, as these had 
 been woefully mismanaged. It was resolved that not 
 more than one society in any one city could belong to 
 the TurnerbunJ, but that this Turnverein could establish 
 branch societies if it so desired. The Tumzeitung became 
 the subject of heated debates. It was decided to issue 
 it once a week in larger form and in smaller type 
 in order to make room for a discussion of political 
 questions. Philadelphia was again selected as the 
 executive center. It was decided to give the Turnfest in 
 Cincinnati, and Buffalo was chosen for the convention. 
 
 The ensuing year was not fraught with many encour- 
 aging results. The heated arguments between the North 
 and the South over the slavery question had a depress- 
 ing influence on the social life of the Turnoereine. The 
 Turnzeitung ignored its actual purpose, that of furthering 
 and encouraging the practice of physical training, and 
 manifested a lively interest in the burning political 
 questions of the day. And this is only a reflection of 
 
 (28)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 the attitude of the societies themselves, for they lost 
 interest in their gymnastic activities, and devoted them- 
 selves to politics. 
 
 Members of the Know-Nothing party showed a mali- 
 cious enmity toward the German citizens, and their fre- 
 quent attacks finally forced the Turners to resort to arms 
 in self-defence. Especially, in Cincinnati and Columbus 
 was this the case. At a city election in Cincinnati a 
 veritable riot ensued which resulted in blood-shed. At 
 a Tumfest in Columbus the city rowdies found occasion 
 to vent their ire on the "white jackets," as the Turners 
 were jeeringly dubbed, and the riot which followed as- 
 sumed the aspect of a battle. One of the attacking 
 party was killed and nineteen Turners were arrested on 
 the charge of assault with intent to kill. After a success- 
 ful plea on the part of the lawyer of the defense they 
 were finally acquitted. 
 
 By reason of the agitation of the American party 
 against all foreigners and by their own use of the mother 
 tongue, the German element at that time was separated 
 almost entirely from social intercourse with the rest of 
 the population. This increased the range of activities 
 within the Turning societies and everything was done to 
 make the social life there as interesting and as many- 
 sided as possible. 
 
 A plan for the establishment of a Turner settlement 
 originated in Cincinnati in March of the year 1855. It 
 was proposed that each settler should buy stock to the 
 extent of fifteen dollars. The total amount thus realized 
 was to be invested in a large plot of land. Upon this 
 a city was to be laid out, and each investor was to be 
 guaranteed a home or a farm. Only members of the 
 
 (29)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 Tumerbund were to be invited to share in this co-operative 
 plan, and at the following convention in Buffalo it was 
 to be decided whether the Tumerbund should have per- 
 manent charge of this undertaking. As a result the 
 Turner settlement of New Ulm, Minnesota, was founded 
 and its history is of great importance in the annals of the 
 Tumerbund. 
 
 The convention in Buffalo, 1855, marks a turning- 
 point in the history of the North American Gymnastic 
 Union. By taking a decided stand against slavery, the 
 organization entered into the field of practical politic*. 
 The internal dissensions which came to the surface 
 more and more, threatened the unity of the Bund and 
 introduced a spirit of discord among its members. 
 
 The platform which was voted on and accepted by 
 the representatives of forty-seven societies after a heated 
 debate embodied the following principles: 
 
 "The Turners will vote for no man who is a member 
 of the Know-Nothing party, or who is identified with 
 any Nativistic corporation or party or does not declare 
 himself openly as opposed to any organization of this 
 nature. 
 
 "The Turners are opposed to slavery, and regard this 
 institution as unworthy of a republic and not in accord 
 with the principles of freedom. 
 
 "The Turners are opposed to all prohibition laws as 
 undemocratic in theory and not feasible in practice." 
 
 Towards the last of October, 1855, the newly-elected 
 executive committee took office in Cincinnati. This body 
 was confronted with many difficulties. The treasury 
 was at low ebb. There were many unpaid subscrip- 
 tions to the Tumzeitung and the Tumerbund was finally 
 
 (30)
 
 North ,/Jmerican Gymnastic Union 
 
 forced to overlook the resolution passed in 1852. A 
 dispute which arose over the division of the Turnerbund 
 into districts caused further difficulty. The year closed 
 with the Tumfest in Cincinnati, where, on account of the 
 finances, no prizes for the literary works submitted could 
 be awarded. 
 
 The membership of the Bund was comparatively 
 small in proportion to the total population of the states, 
 but, even though it may prove difficult to produce tan- 
 gible results, the fact remains that they played a promi- 
 nent part in the politics of the day. The attitude and the 
 spirited agitation of the Turners induced many of the 
 early German immigrants who had become identified with 
 the Democratic party to change their minds, and to fall in 
 line with the Unionists. The Turners not only manifested 
 the courage of their convictions in debate, in the press 
 and in public discussions, but they braved personal dan- 
 ger for the anti-slavery cause whenever the opportunity 
 presented itself. Such was the case in Boston and Cin- 
 cinnati when Wendell Phillips, the celebrated abolitionist 
 orator, was defended by the Turners against the furious 
 attacks of hostile mobs ; again, in New York, when the 
 Turners responded to a call to police a Fremont dem- 
 onstration. 
 
 The affairs of the Gymnastic Union were not as 
 flourishing as they had been in the past. The practice 
 of gymnastics was gradually neglected, and the interest 
 of the Turners was absorbed by politics. The older 
 Turners began to withdraw entirely from the gym- 
 nasiums, and the young men, who otherwise would 
 have filled up the membership of the societies, were not 
 
 (31 )
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 available (or this purpose, for the immigrants of this time 
 had not the same interest in the ideals of the Turners. 
 
 The new executive committee, which met in Cincin- 
 nati, was confronted with a large indebtedness, and the 
 organization was threatened with a calamitous future. 
 A number of the southern societies resigned from the 
 Bund because of the newly-adopted anti-slavery para- 
 graph in the platform. The uncompromising attitude 
 of the Turnzeitung toward these societies complicated the 
 situation further, and the Bund was split into two parties. 
 The convention, which was to be held in Washington, 
 promised reconciliation, but the executive committee 
 suddenly transferred the meeting to Pittsburg. 
 
 The motive which prompted this change became an 
 object of suspicion, and as a result two conventions were 
 held, one in Washington and the other in Pittsburg. 
 Thus the situation became still further complicated. 
 Attempts to reconcile the two factions failed. At the 
 convention in Pittsburg it was resolved to establish a 
 school for gymnastic teachers, trade schools for the 
 members of the Bund, and gymnastic schools for boys 
 and girls. Each of these factions issued a proclamation 
 declaring that they alone deserved recognition as the 
 official gymnastic union. 
 
 The year 1856 is of importance, in that it marks 
 one of the most brutal attacks made by the Nativistic 
 rowdies on the Turners. In May of that year, 1 60 members 
 of the Cincinnati Tumgemeinde, together with Turners from 
 Newport and Covington, held a gymnastic festival on 
 the Kentucky side of the Ohio river. The disturbances 
 which had begun in the afternoon came to a climax upon 
 the return march of the gymnasts from the festival 
 
 (32)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 grounds, and in the street fights which followed a great 
 number of participants were seriously wounded. The 
 Turners fought their way through the mob and sought 
 refuge in the Newport gymnasium, where they were in a 
 position of defense throughout the night. On the fol- 
 lowing day 107 Turners were arrested. The bond 
 of each was fixed at $1,000, the entire sum, $107,000, 
 being furnished by two citizens of Newport. Later on, 
 after investigation, all were dismissed save nine, who 
 were kept in confinement, and finally, after a long trial, 
 were given their freedom. 
 
 Two gymnastic festivals were held in September of 
 the year 1857, the one in Milwaukee and the other in 
 New York, and both were eminently successful. 
 
 Repeated attempts at reuniting the two factions of 
 the Bund failed, so in September of the year 1 85 7, the 
 one branch held its convention in Detroit, and the other 
 in Paterson, N. J. The disappointment of the various 
 societies at the utter failure to bring about a reconcilia- 
 tion resulted in the gradual elimination of both factions, 
 as the quarrel had now assumed a personal nature, and 
 dealt with mere formalities rather than with vital princi- 
 ples. This elimination was hastened when the executive 
 committee of Cincinnati issued a proclamation urging 
 the various societies to remove such members who did 
 not declare themselves in entire accord with the plat- 
 form of the Bund. A great many of the societies 
 ignored this proclamation entirely; some repudiated it, 
 and in many cities it resulted in the founding of inde- 
 pendent organizations. 
 
 The report of the executive committee of the western 
 faction, which held its convention in Indianapolis in 
 
 (33)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 September, 1857, showed that 20 societies had been 
 disbanded; that 15 had resigned, and that 13 had 
 joined the union. The treasury was at low ebb and the 
 outlook for the future did not seem promising. Only 
 1 3 societies were represented at the convention of the 
 eastern faction, and the report of the executive com- 
 mittee indicated a decrease in membership. 
 
 The executive committee of the year 1858, which 
 had its headquarters in Dubuque, made active efforts to 
 put the resolutions of previous conventions into practice. 
 Public speakers were engaged to undertake lecture 
 tours and to direct the interest of the societies into intel- 
 lectual channels. The larger societies were urged to 
 establish schools for the development of class leaders. 
 
 The impetus toward effecting negotiations between 
 the rival factions was given by the executive committee 
 in Washington, and it was finally decided to have a 
 joint session at a gymnastic festival to be held at Balti- 
 more in August, 1859, when the conditions under 
 which the reconciliation could be effected were to be 
 discussed. Representatives of the opposing factions met 
 in Baltimore, and an agreement was drawn up which 
 was to serve as a basis for this consolidation. The final 
 step to reunite the Turnerbund was made by the Wil- 
 liamsburg Turnverein at an extra session, which was 
 convened in that city November 13, 1859. 
 
 The small attendance at the gymnastic festival at St. 
 Louis, 1 860, was undoubtedly due to the critical political 
 situation in the country. The coming presidential elec- 
 tion promised to be a turning point in the history of the 
 nation. In several proclamations the executive com- 
 
 (34)
 
 North Jjmerican Gymnastic Union 
 
 mittee urged the members of the Turnerbund to support 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The ominous reports which emanated from the 
 South in the midst of the jubilation and the excitement 
 which followed the election of Lincoln, boded ill for 
 the peace of the nation. The Confederate States were 
 mustering their troops in Virginia, and were menac- 
 ing the national capital. To the northern friends 
 of the rebellion, this appeared as an opportune mo- 
 ment for action. This feeling vented itself in the 
 now famous Baltimore riot, which raged around the 
 Turners of that city. For, after the fall of Fort 
 Sumter, the state flag of Maryland had been hoisted 
 upon all public buildings. The Union flag remained 
 on only one building, the unpretentious hall of the 
 Baltimore Turnverein. On April 19th a large mob 
 gathered in front of the building, and under threat of 
 destroying the hall, demanded that the Union flag should 
 be replaced by the state flag. To this the Turners 
 defiantly replied that they would rather blow up their 
 own building than defame it by hoisting the rebel 
 standard. 
 
 On April 20, the Turner Hall, though valiantly defend- 
 ed by the Turners, was captured by the rebel mob and 
 every movable bit of property and all the gymnastic 
 apparatus was thrown upon the street. The neighboring 
 office of the official organ of the gymnastic union and the 
 printing establishment of the German paper Wecker 
 met a similar fate, both buildings being razed to the 
 ground. Many Turners were forced to flee the city in 
 order to save their lives. 
 
 Before the Turners could realize what had happened. 
 
 (35)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 and before they could entrust the affairs of the Bund 
 to new hands, war was declared and their activity was 
 diverted to the field of battle. 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD 
 
 Those who were friendly to the cause of the Union 
 welcomed Lincoln's call to arms with enthusiasm, and 
 their sentiment was echoed by the great majority of the 
 German population of the United States. All party 
 differences and private interests were laid aside in order 
 to stamp out the rebellion and to ward off the great 
 danger which threatened to dissolve the nation. 
 
 The Turners were among the first to respond to the 
 call to arms and enlist in the Union army. In some 
 regions where the societies were large enough, entire 
 companies were recruited from their ranks, and in New 
 York, St. Louis and Cincinnati regiments were formed, 
 which were almost entirely composed of Turners. 
 Numerous societies had to give up their gymnastic work 
 entirely, and many were dissolved because the majority 
 of their members had taken up the musket. Just as the 
 period preceding the outbreak of the war had been the 
 most inglorious, so these days were perhaps the most 
 glorious in the history of the Turnerbund. 
 
 The committee report of the Rochester convention 
 showed that the Bund included in the neighborhood of 
 10,000 members, and it is safe to assume that at least 
 6,000 of these enlisted in the Union army. But with 
 these, about 2,000 men who had been Turners before 
 the outbreak of the war must be included. 
 
 How the spirit and enthusiasm that animated the 
 Turners in these stirring times was manifested in many 
 
 (36)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 ways in all parts of the country, is clearly shown by the 
 incidents that follow. 
 
 The Turners in Kansas allied themselves with the 
 Free State party, and stubbornly aided in preventing the 
 pro-slavery party from making the territory a slave state. 
 The Germans gave valuable aid to the Free State faction 
 in their bloody encounters with the Missouri border 
 ruffians in 1855. An interesting incident is reported in 
 the account of the conflict between thirty-five Turners 
 and an equal number of native Americans from Leaven- 
 worth, who under Captain Haas, wrested a cannon and 
 other weapons from the ruffians in Kickapoo. 
 
 The national capital was not only threatened by an 
 invasion by the Southerners, January, 1 86 1 , but was also 
 endangered by the secessionist element within the city. 
 The two Tumvereine of Washington organized a com- 
 pany of sharpshooters, composed of eighty-one men, and 
 offered their services to Colonel Stone to aid in defend- 
 ing the city. They also gave valuable service upon the 
 arrival of Lincoln in Washington, and on the day of his 
 inauguration they formed a part of his body-guard dur- 
 ing the ceremonies. 
 
 In the beginning of January, 1861, the Turners of 
 St. Louis passed a resolution by which the Turnverein 
 was dissolved and in its stead a military organization to 
 guard the Union and the cause of freedom was estab- 
 lished. It was further resolved to sacrifice life and prop- 
 erty, if necessary, to keep the county of St. Louis loyal to 
 the administration in case the state of Missouri should 
 decide to secede. These steps were taken at a time 
 when the magnitude of the danger which threatened the 
 country was barely realized. It was prompted purely 
 
 (37) 
 
 4480 3
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 by patriotism and by the enthusiasm for the cause of 
 freedom. The Secessionists had made every effort to 
 win the Turners over to their side, for they were fully 
 aware of their influence over the rest of the German 
 population; and when they did not succeed in this 
 effort they persecuted the "white jackets" to the limit of 
 endurance. At the time of Lincoln's call to arms three 
 complete and well drilled companies of Turners in 
 St. Louis were ready for immediate service. These were 
 incorporated in the 1 st Missouri Regiment and took 
 part in the campaign in southern Missouri. When, at 
 the end of their three months' military service they 
 were dismissed, they joined the 1 7th Missouri Regiment 
 which was made up almost entirely of Turners and 
 became known as the Western Turner Regiment. They 
 took part in numerous battles and accompanied Sherman 
 on his march to Atlanta. 
 
 The Turners of St. Louis were undoubtedly the first 
 to come to the protection of the Union in the hour of 
 danger, and it is due to their influence and that of their 
 German compatriots that the state of Missouri did not 
 secede from the Union. How prompt and effective 
 their action was is shown by the capture of Camp Jack- 
 son, May 10, 1861. This act disheartened the Secession- 
 ists, and kept the city and county of St. Louis from throw- 
 ing the weight of their influence to the southern cause. 
 
 When the president of the New York Turnoerein 
 issued a martial proclamation, 1 ,200 men responded and 
 were enlisted for two years in the service of the Union. 
 Of these, three companies were made up of New York 
 Turners, two from Williamsburg and one from Newark, 
 N. J. The remainder of the regiment was supplied by 
 
 (38)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 the gymnastic societies from Boston, Philadelphia and 
 other cities. Under command of Colonel Max Weber 
 they were sent to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, June 1, 
 1 86 1 , and took part in the capture of Norfolk. As part 
 of the army of the Potomac, the regiment fought in the 
 battles of Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Mal- 
 vern Hill, Fredericksburg, South Mountain, Antietam 
 and Salem Heights. On May 10, 1863, the regiment, 
 now numbering only 460 men, returned to New York. 
 
 The Turners of Cincinnati were also among the first 
 to take up arms. The men were recruited from the 
 gymnastic societies all over Ohio, and for this reason 
 the regiment was known as the Ohio Turner Regiment. 
 Under the leadership of McCook and Willich, it took 
 part in the siege of Corinth, in the battles of Perryville, 
 Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and 
 Missionary Ridge. This 9th Ohio Regiment, which was 
 composed of 1,135 men, was considered one of the 
 fittest of the Union army, and during its three years' 
 service earned undying fame. 
 
 Four hundred men responded to the summons of 
 the Philadelphia Tumgemeinde for volunteers, and, forming 
 four companies, they placed themselves at the disposal 
 of the governor. Pennsylvania had, however, supplied 
 its share of men before these volunteers could be mus- 
 tered into service, and so they turned to New York, 
 where they joined the Astor Regiment. A fifth company 
 of Philadelphia Turners traveled to St. Louis where they 
 enlisted in the Western Turner Regiment. 
 
 The Turner Union Cadets of Chicago, composed of 
 105 men, organized themselves on April 17, and were 
 ready to go into battle within four days. A second 
 
 (39)
 
 Jl Brief History of the 
 
 company, organized after the departure of these men, 
 joined the 24th Illinois. 
 
 The Milwaukee Turnoerein organized a battalion of 
 sharpshooters, and their forty members were augmented 
 to 105 by Turners from other Wisconsin societies. In 
 the beginning of May they joined the 5th Wisconsin as 
 Company C, Turner Rifles. 
 
 When the Turners of Indianapolis returned at the 
 close of their three months* service, a desire was urgent 
 among them to organize a wholly German regiment, and 
 with the approval of Governor Morton this was accom- 
 plished. The regiment was placed under the command 
 of August Willich, and the ten companies were recruited 
 from Indianapolis, Madison, Aurora, Lawrenceburg, 
 Terre Haute, Lafayette, Laporte and Evansville. The 
 regiment, which departed September 6, 1 86 1 , for Louis- 
 ville, was enrolled as the 32d Indiana Regiment, and 
 gained for itself a well-earned reputation in the battles of 
 Rowlett Station, Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mis- 
 sionary Ridge and on the march to Atlanta. 
 
 Although it is practically impossible to determine the 
 exact number, there was hardly a gymnastic society in 
 the Union which was not represented by at least several 
 Turners on the field of battle. In view of the disorgan- 
 ized condition of the Tumerbund, no record of the 
 Turners who enlisted in the army was kept, and, conse- 
 quently, the names of those men who sacrificed their 
 lives in the cause is, to a great extent, unknown. 
 
 An account of the civil war period in this limited 
 history of the Tumerbund is necessarily brief, but it is well, 
 perhaps, to enumerate the more important regiments 
 which were composed wholly or in part of Turners: 
 
 (40)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 "From Missouri the 1 st (Colonel Blair), the 3d (Colonel 
 Franz Sigel), the 12th (Colonel Osterhaus), the 17th 
 (Colonel Hassendeubel, later Colonel Kramer), and the 
 41st (Colonel Wiedemeyer); from Wisconsin the 5th, 
 the 9th (Colonel Salomon), the 26th (Colonel Hans 
 Bobel); from Ohio the 9th (Colonel McCook), the 28th 
 (Colonel Moor), the 37th (Colonel Siebert), the 106th 
 (Colonel G. Tafel), the 108th (Colonel Limberg); from 
 Illinois the 9th (Colonel Mersy), the 24th (Colonel Fred- 
 erick Hecker), the 43d (Colonel Engelmann), the 82d 
 (Colonel Frederick Hecker); the 1st and 2d of Kentucky; 
 the 47th of Pennsylvania; the 20th of New York (Col- 
 onel Max Weber, later Colonel Engelbert Schnepf); the 
 2d Cavalry Regiment of Minnesota (Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Pfander); the Artillery Brigade of Ohio (Colonel Max 
 Hoffmann), and the Artillery Brigade of Minnesota (Col- 
 onel Wm. Pfander*)." 
 
 During the early part of the war many unsuccessful 
 attempts were made to infuse new life into the Turnerbund. 
 The Turner societies of New York, which had been 
 strengthened by numerous immigrants, formed a close 
 alliance in February, 1 863, and when they had gained a 
 firm foothold they made an attempt to call the Turnerbund 
 back into life. A general gymnastic festival, to which the 
 societies from all over the country were invited, was 
 determined on as the best means to effect this end. 
 
 Over 800 visiting Turners took part in the festival, 
 September, 1 864, and every one of these evinced a 
 desire for the reorganization of the Bund, and at the 
 convention which was held at this time it was decided 
 to retain the platform of the old Bund, and to give the 
 title of Amerif^anischer Turnerbund to the new organization. 
 
 H. Huhn, Turner Almanac, 1890. 
 
 (41)
 
 jl Brief History of the 
 
 A proclamation was issued by the central committee 
 to the gymnastic societies of America calling upon them 
 to group themselves into districts and to join the new 
 TurnerbunJ. This met with general approval, and the 
 beginning, made by Cincinnati with five societies, was 
 rapidly followed by the districts of New England, West 
 New York, St Louis, Connecticut and Wisconsin. 
 
 The convention in Washington, April 3, 1 865, is of 
 primary importance in the history of the North American 
 Gymnastic Union, for at this meeting the unfortunate 
 period of factional strife was terminated, and the cause 
 of German gymnastics was taken up with renewed vigor. 
 The friendly spirit shown by all the delegates contrib- 
 uted greatly toward the amicable readjustment of 
 affairs, which furthered the revival of the Bund. The 
 general enthusiasm, however, can no doubt be attributed 
 to another cause which aroused great rejoicing at this 
 memorable meeting. 
 
 Dispatches telling of the glorious victories of the Union 
 arms, which culminated in the capture of Richmond 
 and promised the total suppression of the rebellion in 
 the near future, arrived in Washington during the session 
 of the Turner delegates, and were received with unabated 
 enthusiasm. The city became a scene of joyous festiv- 
 ities, into which the organizers of the new Bund entered 
 with great enthusiasm, and the spirit of the occasion 
 manifested itself within the convention hall. They had 
 good reason to rejoice, for the defeat of the Confederacy, 
 with its great national significance, came simultaneously 
 with the formation of the vigorous, reunited Turnerbund. 
 
 (42)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 THE TURNERBUND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 
 The gymnastic societies, which had managed to exist 
 through the turmoil of the civil war, flourished rapidly 
 after the Washington convention of the re-united Turner- 
 bund. It was, indeed, a period of enthusiastic activity. 
 Upon returning from the field of battle, the Turners 
 resumed the work in their societies, which had been 
 neglected for such a long time, with renewed vigor and 
 interest, and they found new and valuable allies in the 
 numerous German immigrants of that day who had 
 received a thorough gymnastic training in the mother 
 country. The New York executive committee did every- 
 thing in its power to encourage the work of rejuvenating 
 and strengthening the Turnerbund. It planned the estab- 
 lishment of a normal school for the training of teachers 
 of gymnastics in order to supply the societies and 
 schools with competent men who had enjoyed the 
 benefit of a complete theoretic and practical study of 
 gymnastics. It may be of interest to note that at the 
 Turnfest in Cincinnati, in September, 1865, a nation- 
 al meeting of the teachers of physical training, the 
 first of its kind in the history of German-American 
 gymnastics, was convened in that city. Furthermore, 
 an effort was made to gain the interest of prominent 
 educators and their co-operation in the publication of a 
 series of non-sectarian German school books to be used 
 by the societies and German academies. The ultimate 
 ambition was to introduce the teaching of German into 
 the public schools of the country. The Turner societies 
 evinced a -decided interest in all intellectual questions, 
 and prominent lecturers were engaged to address their 
 members. 
 
 (43)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 Aside from matters concerning gymnastics and other 
 educational questions, the solution of the political prob- 
 lems of that time was foremost in the minds of the Turn- 
 ers. In their national convention in St. Louis, 1 866, the 
 following resolutions were adopted and forwarded to 
 the United States congress: 
 
 (1) "The constitution of the United States provides 
 that congress shall make all those laws and provisions 
 necessary for the general welfare of the nation; there- 
 fore, it should be its duty to pass such laws as will insure 
 the future, and shall enforce those republican provisions 
 of the constitution which will extend to every citizen of 
 the United States his rights as such in each state of the 
 Union. 
 
 (2) "The constitution shall be amended in such a 
 form that the cardinal principles of the Declaration of 
 Independence will have a legal status. 
 
 (3) "The convention advises the Turners and all 
 friends of freedom to be alert and manifest an active 
 interest in all public questions, so that congress may 
 realize that it will be supported by a loyal body of 
 citizens only when it makes an honest effort to smother 
 the national turmoil by instituting energetic provisions to 
 eradicate certain existing evils." 
 
 The New York district added the following : 
 
 " It shall further be the duty of this organization to 
 
 support all attempts to raise the intellectual standard 
 
 of the people, and to promote a non-sectarian education 
 
 of the youth by establishing and furthering good schools." 
 
 It is significant to note that the manifesto was issued 
 
 at a time when the promise of the civil war for a true 
 
 democracy was in imminent peril, and this, as the Turners 
 
 (44)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 stated in the preamble to their resolution, was due to the 
 fact that President Andrew Johnson did not redeem his 
 promises and was sacrificing the interests of the country. 
 
 In 1867 the effort was made by the executive com- 
 mittee to form an independent progressive party. 
 Although the attempt failed because the Turners were 
 unwilling to divert their activities into partisan political 
 channels, the movement retains an historical interest. 
 The leading spirits of this proposed organization felt that 
 a true democratic republic could be attained only when 
 the demands of their platform were carried into execution. 
 
 The most significant paragraphs of this platform call 
 for the impartial administration of justice without discri- 
 mination as to race, color or nationality; for the protec- 
 tion of life and property; for an enumeration of the 
 uniform legal qualifications for voters in the national 
 elections; for a general and uniform distribution of 
 taxes and the maintenance of the principle of a pro- 
 gressive capital and income tax. The platform also 
 demanded that free entry should be given all raw prod- 
 ucts which could be produced only in insufficient quan- 
 tity within the United States ; that better national support 
 should be given to the department of education; that 
 its work should be extended farther, particularly in 
 the South ; that compulsory school education be intro- 
 duced as a necessary guarantee against the misuse of the 
 voting privilege ; that all monopolies should be restricted 
 and that the employee should be protected against the 
 unjust demands of his employer. Furthermore, a national 
 standing army was advocated on the basis of compul- 
 sory military service ; laws protecting and encouraging 
 desirable immigration were urged, and, in conclusion, 
 
 (45)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 the Turners advocated the abolishment of the existing 
 presidential system, declaring it to be an unrepublican 
 institution, and advised in its stead a national executive 
 committee, to be elected by congress, and the separation 
 of the military authority from all political power as more 
 expedient and more in harmony with the spirit of the time. 
 
 At that time the Turnerbund was composed of 18 
 districts and 1 4 8 societies, with a total membership of 
 10,200. 
 
 In 1 87 1 the executive committee published a manifesto 
 addressed to the people of the United States, in which the 
 attitude of the Turners toward the public questions of the 
 day was denned at length. It is hardly necessary to 
 enumerate the specific clauses of this manifesto, since the 
 political policy advocated by the Turners has been set 
 forth in the above account of the platform of the free 
 progressive party. However, one paragraph dealing 
 with socialism as it was understood by the Turners at 
 that time, is of special interest. The manifesto makes 
 the following statement: 
 
 " Socialism of to-day, in which we Turners believe, 
 aims to remove the pernicious antagonism between labor 
 and capital. It endeavors to effect a reconciliation 
 between these two, and to establish a peace by which 
 the rights of the former are fully protected against the 
 encroachments of the latter. 
 
 " In short, socialism wishes to actuate business hon- 
 esty. There is no doubt that the next European revolu- 
 tion will primarily exhibit a social character, and it is 
 difficult to foresee the outcome. However, since self- 
 preservation is the inherent impulse of the human race, 
 the ultimate solution of this vital problem will be in the 
 
 (46)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 final victory of the oppressed classes. They, in their 
 turn, must not violate justice in their demands. They 
 must not endeavor to build up some sort of a new aris- 
 tocracy of the working class upon the ruins of the old 
 aristocratic class, with its manifold privileges and numer- 
 ous monopolies and its unwarrantable advantages a 
 heritage bestowed by the blind accident of birth. 
 
 "We wish all men to be working men, sustaining 
 themselves by the product of their labor, but by no 
 means do we favor the creation of new class distinctions 
 upon the overthrow of the present controlling class." 
 
 It will be observed that a great number of the reforms 
 advocated by the Turners in their manifestos some forty 
 odd years ago anticipated the political questions which 
 have come to the foreground at the present day.* The 
 question of universal suffrage, which is the basis for 
 much feverish discussion in our age, was propounded to 
 the American people by the Turners in October of the 
 year 1871. It was urged that men and women should 
 have an equal status in the political life of the nation, 
 and that the power of the ballot should also be conferred 
 upon the latter. This clause, which caused great excite- 
 ment in numerous gymnastic societies and led to heated 
 debates, was finally withdrawn at the Louisville conven- 
 tion in the following May. 
 
 It is but natural that the momentous crisis of the civil 
 war, and the serious problems of reconstruction with 
 which the nation was confronted at the conclusion of 
 that terrible ttruggle, should leave a deep impression 
 upon the minds of the " Forty-eighters," as the political 
 refugees of the German revolution of 1848 were called. 
 On the other hand, the Americans learned to appreciate 
 
 *The Turner Convention at Denver, 1894, recommended the establishment of 
 Postal Savings Banks. 
 
 (47)
 
 Brie} History of the 
 
 the noble spirit of self-sacrifice which the Germans had 
 shown in the dark days of the civil war. Intercourse 
 between the men of these two great races became more 
 frequent day by day in business, social and political 
 ways. Gradually the conviction dawned upon both that 
 the one could learn a great deal from the other, and 
 unconsciously, in the meanwhile, the Germans became 
 more and more Americanized. 
 
 However, the chief factor in this process of trans- 
 formation, which manifested its slow but irresistible 
 progress in all the German clubs and societies, was the 
 maturing youth. The revolutionary spirit of the n Forty- 
 eighters" which inspired the fathers, was strange and 
 incomprehensible to their children who had grown up 
 in other surroundings, and had been imbued with differ- 
 ent thoughts and feelings. The English language, which 
 came so much easier to this new generation, attained 
 precedence at all the social gatherings and entertain- 
 ments, although the official language continued to be 
 German at all formal meetings of the Turners. 
 
 Again, it became evident that the Turners of America 
 had but little in common with the Turners of Germany, 
 as was boldly pointed out in the annual report of the 
 executive committee of 1872. 
 
 " The Turners of America have nothing in common 
 with the Turners of the old fatherland, except the system 
 of physical training," says the report, and then proceeds: 
 "Of our endeavors for reform in the political, religious 
 and social fields, of the struggle against corruption and 
 slavery in all forms, the Turners in Germany know noth- 
 ing, although this has been the object and the inspiration 
 of our gymnastic union." 
 
 (48)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 The Turners of Germany had ceased to participate, 
 as an organization, in the attempts to solve the political 
 problems of their country, and confined their activities 
 solely to the practice of physical training. On the other 
 hand, the American Turners continued to be as actively 
 interested in the vital questions of the day after the civil 
 war as they had been in the past. In order to empha- 
 size the different sphere of the Turnerbund, the execu- 
 tive committee made the following statement in 
 this report : " Our Turnerbund might be regarded as a 
 mere branch of the German Turnerbund. But, on the 
 contrary, the American Turnerbund, as it is organized to- 
 day, with its platform and its constitution, its hopes and 
 endeavors, is pre-eminently American." 
 
 The Chicago executive committee, which made the 
 statement quoted above, further urged the various soci- 
 eties to awaken an interest in the Turnerbund in the 
 native Americans, and to popularize the practice of 
 physical training through their influence. 
 
 At the national convention of the Turnerbund at 
 Cleveland in 1878, a series of resolutions embodying 
 the principles of the Turners was adopted. They advo- 
 cated the right of recall, the initiative and referendum 
 for all important laws, the abolishment of all complicated 
 representation of the people, and declared the artificial 
 distribution of power, as, for instance, the election of 
 senators by the state legislatures, to be a pernicious 
 obstacle to true democracy. 
 
 As a proper solution for certain social problems as a 
 means for the betterment of social conditions, the Turners 
 recommended laws for the protection of labor against 
 capital; for the inspection of factories, food and lodgings 
 
 (49)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 as a sanitary safeguard, and for the restriction of child 
 labor in factories. The abolishment of the senate and 
 the presidency in their present form was recommended 
 on the ground that these were identical with certain 
 monarchical institutions. The cessation of the practice 
 of donating or selling public land to private individuals 
 and corporations was also advocated in this declaration. 
 
 Many of the more conservative members of the 
 Tumerbund were opposed to this declaration of princi- 
 ples as drawn up by the Cleveland convention, but it 
 was adopted by a referendum vote. Some years later 
 the paragraph dealing with the senate and the presidency 
 was stricken from the declaration by a primary vote. In 
 its stead the election of senators by popular vote was 
 proposed. 
 
 At the convention held at Indianapolis in 1 880, Dr. 
 H. M. Starkloflf of St. Louis, the first speaker of the 
 executive committee, made the following remarks in his 
 opening address: 
 
 "We have gained that personal liberty the German 
 Turners once dreamed of; we have done our duty in that 
 direction. That part of our program is fulfilled, and it 
 remains for us to find a new field for our energies. How 
 would it be if we would work with all our might to intro- 
 duce physical training into the public schools of this 
 country? We could not conceive a more beautiful gift 
 than this to bestow upon the American people. It seems 
 to me that this should be a worthy enterprise, for whoso- 
 ever has conquered the youth has gained the future." 
 
 In 1 88 1 a select group of German- American Turners 
 from Milwaukee, under the leadership of George Brosius, 
 at that time the director of The Normal School of the 
 
 (50)
 
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 Tumerbund, crossed the Atlantic as the first team to attend 
 and compete in a gymnastic festival in Germany. The fes- 
 tival was held in Frankfort on the Main, and, upon their 
 return to this country, the American Turners brought 
 back with them the 2nd, 3d, 5th, 6th, 1 3th and 2 1 st 
 competitive prizes. 
 
 As the years passed by the Turners devoted their en- 
 ergies less to the political and more to the educational 
 side of their program. The history of the Tumerbund 
 now consists chiefly of an account of the various gym- 
 nastic festivals and conventions which, though eminently 
 successful, are of particular interest only to those who 
 are intimately identified with the organization. 
 
 The national festivals, which in former years had been 
 held annually, grew too expensive as the membership of 
 the gymnastic union increased. The financial risk as- 
 sumed by the society, under whose auspices the festival 
 was held, became too large. For that reason, since 
 1 885, these gymnastic festivals have been held only once 
 every four years. Up to that time the societies had been 
 represented by the picked men of their organization and 
 the total number of active competitors at such festivals 
 ranged from 200 to 300 men. However, when competi- 
 tive gymnastics between the societies were introduced the 
 total number of active Turners who competed ran into 
 thousands. At the national Turnfest in Cincinnati (1889) 
 1,179 Turners competed; in Milwaukee (1893) 3,380; in 
 St. Louis (1897) 2,600; in Philadelphia (1900) at the 
 golden jubilee of the Turnerbund 1,650; in Indianapolis 
 (1905) 1,400, and in Cincinnati (1910) 1,800. At St. 
 Louis, in 1897, school children were invited for the first 
 time to participate in a Turnfest. Since then mass drills 
 
 (51 )
 
 Brief History jof the 
 
 by the children have always been an interesting feature 
 of the festivals. The next national festival will be held 
 at Denver, Colorado, in 1913. 
 
 In the year 1 904 the Turnerbund was represented by 
 a class of eight men under the leadership of Henry Suder, 
 director of physical training in the Chicago public schools, 
 at the Turnfest in Nuremberg, Germany. They proved 
 to be no mean rivals of their German brethren in 
 the art of physicial training. The next year at Indi- 
 anapolis, for the first time in the history of the 
 gymnastic union, a class of German Turners, under 
 the leadership of Professor F. Kessler, of Stuttgart, 
 attended a Turnfest in this country. The gymnastic union 
 of Germany comprises a total membership of 750,000 
 men, from which number the best nine Turners were 
 selected to represent their organization on American soil. 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that these Turners took 
 home with them the highest competitive prizes that were 
 awarded at the festival. The rare skill and the finish of 
 all their apparatus work and their versatility in the vari- 
 ous gymnastic exercises amazed the spectators and 
 caused general comment. Mr. Charles W. Fairbanks, then 
 Vice-President of United States, witnessed the gymnastic 
 exercises of the German Turners and bade them, in the 
 name of the nation, a hearty welcome to this country. 
 After a brief visit to the larger cities of the middle West 
 the German Turners returned to Europe, highly elated 
 at the friendly reception that had been accorded them. 
 
 In 1 908 the Turnerbund arranged an excursion to the 
 German gymnastic festival in Frankfort on the Main. 
 Under the leadership of George Brosius, the oldest and 
 most deserving teacher in the Bund, a class of ninety 
 
 (52)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 American Turners was accorded great applause for a 
 meritorious exhibition of dumb-bell exercises. The Amer- 
 ican Turners also gave an exhibition of base-ball, and our 
 national game aroused unwonted interest among the Ger- 
 man spectators. From 500 to 600 members of the North 
 American Gymnastic Union marched in the festival par- 
 ade and were applauded by the enthusiastic citizens of 
 Frankfort and their guests, who showered the American 
 visitors with flowers and wreaths. 
 
 From the very beginning the societies of the North 
 American Gymnastic Union have endeavored to extend 
 the practice of physical training to all without discrimin- 
 ation as to age or sex. The boy, the youth, the man, the 
 girl, the woman, even the father and mother, are not 
 merely tolerated, but are urged to participate in the 
 gymnastic work of the society. In consequence, the in- 
 fluence of the gymnastic union has increased steadily 
 from year to year. According to the statistics, compiled 
 January 1 st, 1911, the North American Gymnastic Union 
 is composed of 24 districts with 232 societies and a mem- 
 bership of 38,751. 
 
 The enrollment in the various gymnasium classes is 
 as follows: 
 
 5298 Seniors 
 3645 Juniors 
 2225 Business Men 
 4800 Women 
 10.755 Boys 
 7665 Girls 
 
 The fencing sections enroll 326, singing sections 
 2061 , dramatic sections 546, and women's sections 61 55. 
 
 Some of the gymnastic societies also maintain elemen- 
 tary schools, freehand and mechanical drawing schools, 
 
 (53)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 schools for the study of German, and girls' industrial 
 schools. 
 
 The headquarters of the Turnerbundvrere removed from 
 St. Louis to Indianapolis in 1 898 and the executive com- 
 mittee has been located in that city since that time. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF THE NORTH AMERI- 
 CAN TURNERBUND ON GYMNASTICS 
 IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 Dr. Edward Mussey Hartwell, in his admirable report 
 to the United States Commissioner of Education, 1 89 7- 
 98, in the chapter on Physical Education, speaking of 
 gymnastics in the city schools in the United States says: 
 "Neither the colleges nor the athletic organizations of the 
 country have earned the right to speak with authority on 
 the question of what constitutes a well-ordered and prac- 
 ticable system of physical training for elementary and 
 secondary schools. Therefore, the more or less success- 
 ful introduction of school gymnastics, since 1 884, by the 
 cities of Chicago, Kansas City, Cleveland, Denver, Indian- 
 apolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Paul, San 
 Francisco, and Boston, through the action of their res- 
 pective school boards, has been chiefly due to the zeal 
 and insistence of the advocates of the German and Swed- 
 ish systems of gymnastics, who were prepared to speak 
 with knowledge and to act with intelligence. In every 
 city named above, excepting Boston, German free and 
 light gymnastics have been adopted, and the directors of 
 physical education are graduates of the Seminary or 
 
 (54)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 Normal School of the North American Turnerbund. In 
 Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, and a considerable num- 
 ber of other cities in Massachusetts and New England, 
 Swedish gymnastics have been introduced more or less 
 completely into the public schools. Mixed systems of an 
 eclectic character are in vogue in the schools of Brook- 
 lyn, Washington, New York, and Providence. The pro- 
 motion of gymnastic teaching in the public schools has 
 ever been one of the cherished aims of the Turnerbund. " 
 
 While the Turner societies were primarily organized 
 for physical and mental education of adults, the main- 
 tenance of schools of gymnastics for boys and girls was 
 made obligatory for all societies of the Bund, until such 
 time when the public schools should give adequate phys- 
 ical training to their pupils. Whenever, therefore, a fav- 
 orable opportunity presented itself, boards of education 
 were petitioned to introduce gymnastics. The Turner 
 societies were always ready to co-operate with school 
 boards, and in many cities the teachers and leaders of 
 these societies taught gratuitously (often for years) in 
 order to let results convince skeptical school boards of 
 the value of school gymnastics. 
 
 Although introduced into the school systems of some 
 of the cities of the middle western states in the sixties 
 and seventies (in Cincinnati as early as 1 860) gymnastics 
 never became an integral part of the school work for any 
 great length of time. In fact, Dr. Hartwell states in his 
 report "that even now (1898) no important city or town 
 of the United States has succeeded in maintaining for fif- 
 teen successive years a genuine and adequate system of 
 school gymnastics." 
 
 (55)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 It is, therefore, with some measure of pride, that we 
 are able to report that practically all the cities Dr. Hart- 
 well refers to are at present, thirteen years later, not only 
 successfully conducting free exercises in their schools, 
 but have adopted the policy of installing in all school 
 buildings gymnasiums, or playrooms, and of equipping 
 the schoolyards as open-air gymnasiums or playgrounds. 
 
 The successful introduction of physical training into 
 the public schools naturally had its influence upon pri- 
 vate and parochial schools, and even upon some colleges 
 and universities with the result that these also made 
 gymnastics part of their regular work. 
 
 But there is another part of physical education which 
 owes much of its success to the early efforts of the Turners. 
 We refer to the play movement. Play ever was an inte- 
 gral part of Turnen, of gymnastics. Guts Muths*, as well 
 as Jahn's gymnastics, were conducted in the open. The 
 activities upon these grounds were mainly games and 
 what is now grouped under the name of track and field 
 work. Exercises upon apparatus were added later, as 
 being essential for winter and for indoor work. As early 
 as the late sixties boys and girls in Cincinnati enjoyed 
 the giant stride and swings in the large playground or 
 garden, as it was then called, back of the old Turner 
 Hall, and did stunts upon the horizontal bars, jumped 
 and vaulted into jumping pits filled with tan-bark, threw 
 the javelin and played ball. And, as in Cincinnati, so it 
 was in other cities. It was, therefore, perfectly natural 
 when the modern playground movement swept over 
 Europe and over the United States that the Tumerbund 
 was again to be found in the foreground as one of its 
 most ardent and intelligent advocates, and that the Bund's 
 
 (56)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 teachers and leaders were again willing to co-operate in 
 organizing and supervising playgrounds. 
 
 A recent questionaire sent to cities where there are 
 Turner societies shows that gymnastics were introduced 
 into the schools of fifty-two cities either by the direct 
 efforts of the Turner societies of these cities or through 
 the efforts of the district organizations. These cities in 
 the year 1910 had a population of 16,083,400, and a 
 school population of 2,085,763.* The physical training 
 work in these cities is supervised by 352 teachers. 
 
 The time devoted daily to gymnastics averages fifteen 
 minutes in primary and grammar grades, and two week- 
 ly periods of forty-five minutes each in the high schools. 
 While the work is obligatory for practically all elemen- 
 tary grades, only about one third of the cities have gym- 
 nastics obligatory for all four high school years; two years 
 seem to be the rule. 
 
 The questionaire showed that recent years have 
 brought about several marked developments in the phy- 
 sical training work of the public schools. The first is the 
 installation of gymnasiums in the buildings devoted to 
 elementary education (the high schools in most cities 
 have long since had gymnasiums). Forty-one cities re- 
 port that they are beginning to equip their schools with 
 gymnasiums; the total number of gymnasiums is 323. 
 Chicago reports that it has 70 gymnasiums in its 
 schools, while St. Louis reports 37 and Cincinnati 28. 
 Quite a number state that all new buildings are being 
 equipped with gymnasiums or playrooms. 
 
 The second development is the building of shower 
 baths and even of swimming pools in the elementary 
 
 * These figure*, well as all others, apply only to cities in which it was reason- 
 ably certain that gymnastics were introduced through the efforts of the TurnertunJ. 
 
 (57)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 schools. The third is the equipping of playrooms for 
 indoor play. The greatest forward step, however, is the 
 recognition that the yard of every school is the natural 
 playground for most of the children attending the school. 
 This brought with it the enlargement of school yards and 
 the equipment of the same with gymnastic and play ap- 
 paratus. Thirty-three cities report that their school 
 grounds are being equipped. The total number of 
 equipped schoolyards is 537. Indianapolis reports that 
 all of her 61 schools have equipped yards. Philadel- 
 phia reports 58 and Kansas City 40; and quite a num- 
 ber of smaller cities report that practically all of their 
 schoolyards (numbering from 10 to 25) are equipped. 
 It is interesting and encouraging to note that although 
 this wider use of the schoolyards is of more recent origin, 
 and has been introduced in fewer cities as yet, the num- 
 ber of equipped school yards or playgrounds is already 
 greater than the number of equipped gymnasiums and 
 playrooms, i. e. 41 cities with 323 gymnasiums as against 
 33 cities with 537 playgrounds. 
 
 Summarizing, the results of this investigation show 
 that the Tumerbund has been and still is an active and 
 efficient agent promoting rational physical training in the 
 schools of the United States. 
 
 (58)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NORMAL COLLEGE OF 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN GYM- 
 NASTIC UNION 
 
 The Normal College of the North American Gym- 
 nastic Union is the oldest American institution for the 
 education of teachers of physical training. 
 
 The Normal School of the North American Gymnas- 
 tic Union was reorganized in 1866. Prior to 1875, the 
 school was a traveling institute of gymnastics, whose 
 earliest courses were completed in the city of New York. 
 The institute was then transfered to Chicago. In Oc- 
 tober, 1871, the great fire in Chicago ended the existence 
 of the institute in that city, and in 1872 the school was 
 reopened in the city of New York. 
 
 From 1875 to 1888, Milwaukee was the seat of the 
 Normal School. From 1889 to 1891, the school tem- 
 porarily made its home in the city of Indianapolis. At 
 the end of this transitional period, the North American 
 Gymnastic Union had completed a gymnasium building 
 adjoining the new home of the National German-Amer- 
 ican Teachers' Seminary and the German and English 
 Academy at Milwaukee. The three schools were united 
 in a way that enabled each to preserve its individuality, 
 and at the same time to utilize the teaching facilities of 
 the other two schools. 
 
 In 1 902, the scope of the work of the Normal School 
 was materially extended. From 1902 to 1907, the fol- 
 lowing courses were given: Course A. A special course 
 for the students of the National German- American Teach- 
 ers' Seminary. Course B. A one-year course for male 
 students of the Normal School who had attained the 
 
 (59)
 
 Brief History of the 
 
 knowledge of German required for admission to the first- 
 year class of the Teachers* Seminary, but did not meet the 
 entrance requirements for course C. Course C. 1902 
 1904: A one year course for students of the Normal 
 School who had attained the knowledge of English re- 
 quired for admission to the second-year class of the 
 Teachers' Seminary. 1904-1907: A one-year course for 
 students of the Normal School who held an American 
 high school diploma or had passed equivalent entrance 
 examinations. Course D. A one-year course for students 
 of the Normal School who, in addition to the qualifica- 
 tions prescribed for course C, had a thorough knowledge 
 of the German language. 
 
 At a joint meeting of the governing boards of the 
 three schools, held September 29, 1906, it was agreed 
 that after August 31, 1907, the National German- Ameri- 
 can Teachers' Seminary and the Normal School of Gym- 
 nastics should be conducted as separate and independ- 
 ent institutions. At the same meeting, the gymnasium 
 building was sold to the German and English Academy. 
 
 In January, 1907, the National Executive Committee 
 of the North American Gymnastic Union adopted resolu- 
 tions to the effect that after August 31, 1907, the Normal 
 School of Gymnastics be conducted in the city of Indian- 
 apolis under the name of "The Normal College of the 
 North American Gymnastic Union"; that one-year, two- 
 year, and four-year college courses be offered prospec- 
 tive teachers of physical training who, prior to matricula- 
 tion, completed the four-year course of an approved 
 American high school, or who pass equivalent entrance 
 examinations in high school subjects, including at least 
 three years of high school English; and that in addition 
 
 (60)
 
 North American Gymnastic Union 
 
 to physical training and practice in teaching, the work 
 of each college year includes courses in letters and science 
 equivalent to one year's work as counted by universities 
 toward the baccalaureate degree. 
 
 In March, 1907, the Normal College was incorporated 
 under the laws of the State of Indiana as an institution 
 of learning empowered to confer academic titles and de- 
 grees. In June, 1910, the College was accredited in Class 
 A by the Indiana State Board of Education, which ex- 
 empts applicants for positions in the Public and High 
 Schools of Indiana from examination. 
 
 The Normal College was opened in the German 
 House at Indianapolis on September 23, 1907. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 It is not presumptuous to remark that in the sixty-one 
 years of its existence the Turnerbund has been an impor- 
 tant factor in the cultural development of this republic. 
 From the very inception of their organization, in what- 
 ever principles they have advocated, it has always been 
 the serious aim of the Turners to contribute their 
 share toward the fruitful development of the country. To 
 be sure, these men may not always have been on the right 
 track. In their eager desire for reform they may have 
 overshot the mark at times, but every unprejudiced his- 
 torian will agree that as citizens of this country they have 
 been honest and unselfish in their activities. They were 
 never diverted from their goal by harsh criticism or by 
 
 (61)
 
 Jl Brief History 
 
 the superior smiles of those who claimed to know better, 
 for they have kept in mind the spirit of Goethe's words: 
 
 "Wer ferlig ist, dent ist nichts recht zu machen; 
 Bin Werdender uiird immer dankbar seinl" 
 
 "A mind, once formed, is never suited after. 
 One, yet in growth, will ever grateful be." 
 
 N BRANCH 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 
 
 The Cheltenham-Aetna Press 
 Indianapolis 
 
 (62)
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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