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Story: Gyms

Women and fitness: a school gym

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Women and fitness: a school gym

In the 20th century it became more acceptable for girls to exercise and participate in sports. Nelson College for Girls acquired its own gymnasium in the early 1900s. Students, dressed in 'gym tunics' (which later became the uniform at many girls' schools), showed their skills in this posed photograph. 

Using this item

Nelson Provincial Museum, F. N. Jones Collection

Reference: 310032

by Frederick Nelson Jones

Permission must be sought from Nelson Provincial Museum before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

David Green, Gyms – Twentieth-century developments, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/41028/women-and-fitness-a-school-gym (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by David Green, published 7 March 2013.