First of a series of recordings for Josphine Rathbone's course on Relaxation. Film is in black and white, and runs half an hour in length. The course was held and filmed in the Memorial Field House on the campus of Springfield College. At present the exact date is not known, but the class was most likely held in the early to mid-seventies.
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Dr. Josephine Langworthy Rathbone (June 25, 1899—1989) was an acclaimed scholar of physical education and relaxation. She earned three degrees in physiology and was a founding member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She taught health and physical education at Columbia University’s Teachers College from 1930 to 1958, and is considered among the pioneering American scholars in the field of adaptive physical education. After retiring from Columbia University, Rathbone began teaching at Springfield College. Her book, “Corrective Physical Education,” published in 1934, became a classic text and went through seven editions over some thirty years. In addition, Rathbone wrote extensively about the medical applications of exercise for rehabilitation and the role of relaxation as part of overall health. At Columbia University, she established a relaxation clinic, which treated patients for stress and other ailments. In 1954, Rathbone and her husband, the eminent Springfield College physiologist Peter Karpovich, helped found the Federation of Sports Medicine, which the following year changed its name to the American College of Sports Medicine, now a flagship organization for the field with some twenty thousand members around the world. In 1974, the organization awarded Rathbone its highest honor.
