"MODERN LIVING REQUIRES LITTLE PHYSICAL EFFORT"

COOLIDGE ENCOURAGES 'HEALTH-GIVING RECREATION' FOR AMERICANS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 22, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge addressed the opening session of the New National Museum.  The President said...

"Every possible interest in out-of-door, health-giving recreation" should be pursued because modern-living requires little physical effort.

Mr. Coolidge went on to say the learning of a trade should be supplemented by recreation.

More than 300 delegates from across the United States are in the Nation's Capital attending the conference.

JFK+50 NOTE

President Kennedy also addressed the issue of physical fitness.  Before his inaugural he wrote an article published in Sports Illustrated titled "The Soft American."  As President, he reorganized the President's Council on Youth Fitness.

Ironically neither Coolidge nor Kennedy made the "Top 5" POTUS in personal physical fitness.  One source identifies the five "most athletic" as Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower & Barack Obama. 

George Mason University lists the five "most fit" at Theodore Roosevelt, John Quincy Adams, George Washington, George W. Bush & Barack Obama. 

SOURCES

"Outdoor Recreation Is Vital Need Of Nation, Says Coolidge," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 22, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

"The Top Five Most Fit U.S. Presidents," George Mason University, Recreation, www.recreation.gmu.edu/

 

 

Ronald Reagan Lifting Weights

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"ONE-FIFTH OF U.S. WOMEN EMPLOYED"

PRESIDENT SAYS WOMEN'S STATUS CHANGE IN BUSINESS WORLD IS REVOLUTIONARY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 11, 1923, President Warren G. Harding's message to the women's industrial conference meeting at the New National Museum* here in the Nation's Capital was read by Secretary of Labor James J. Davis**.

The President's message states "revolutionary change has taken place in the status of women in the world of business."  

Mr. Harding calls this change "justified."

The Secretary said that more than one-fifth of the women of the nation are employed.

JFK+50 NOTE

While 20% of women in the United States were employed in January 1923, 58% were employed as of September 2022.

*The new U.S. National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, opened in 1910 housing art, culture, history, & natural history collections.  The building was expanded in 1965.

**James John Davis (1873-1947) was born in Tredegar, Wales & served as Secretary of Labor 1921-1930.  JJD is one of only 3 cabinet officers to serve under 3 consecutive POTUS.  He served in the U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania 1930-1945. 

SOURCES

"A Brief History of NMNH," National Museum of Natural History, www.naturalhistory.si.edu/

"President Lauds Industrial Women," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., January 11, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

 

 

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Washington, D.C.

Photo by Melizabeth123

www.wikimedia.org/