Maud May Babcock, a fierce advocate for women’s rights, wasn’t afraid to be first. She was the first female faculty member at the U, founder and the first female chair of the departments of Physical Education and “Elocution” (which evolved into Communication and Theatre), the first female chaplain in a state senate, the first female to preside over trustees of a state institution, and, with her production of over 800 plays, the “First Lady of Utah Theater.”
Pictured here in 1892, Babcock (leaning against the pole) is seen teaching a physical education class filled with women wearing the revolutionary “bloomer suit,” which allowed them to move more freely in activities including basketball, a then-new sport she brought to the U.
Read more about her impact on theater at the university.
Such a cool photo! Thanks for sharing!
You can listen to a short radio clip from Beehive Archive about Babcock which aires on Utah Public Radio here: https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/199