No. 42
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
August 22, 2011

Hid the Girls' Skirts

August 22, 2011
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Hid the Girls' Skirts

Hid Their Skirts

Topeka, Kansas, December, 1893 –Wicked boys of the Wasburn, Kan., College play tricks on the pretty female students.

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The young ladies at Washburn College, in Topeka, Kan., have a class in gymnastics and are required to dress in Turkish costume, using a long skirt to conceal their costumes while going to and from the gymnasium.

Last week while they were going through their exercises one of the boys at the college removed their skirts from the dressing room, and they could only get out of the gymnasium by running a gauntlet of the male students. The facts were reported to the faculty, and upon investigation a student named Charles Paddock was found to be responsible for the caper. It was decided to expel him, but his associates have rebelled and declare they will leave the school of such a penalty is imposed on Paddock. The faculty is giving it further consideration.


Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, December 2, 1893