Health and Wellness at the Peabody House
In addition to providing educational programming, the Peabody Hosue was also concerned about the physical and emotional well-being of the residents and neighborhood. Wellness meant recreation, access to physicians, trips out of the city and into the nature of Massachusetts. This was a natural extension of the house’s goals of “Education, Character, and Citizenship,” as many wellness practices aligned with middle class Progressive-era sensibilities around proper self-care and appropriate recreation.
The Peabody House's milk station served as an integrated care model, where doctors treated babies while their mothers picked up milk, making sure that new mothers had educational material and the ability to ask questions about health or other concerns about their newborns.
The practice of motherhood was difficult for many women in a new city, and even more difficult when they felt their work as mothers was unappreciated as a mom wrote in a piece of poetry she worked on during her time at the EPH.
Many settlement houses had camps for residents to escape the intensity of city summer heat. The Peabody House's camp, Camp Gannett, was named for the Gannett family, the most famous member being Deborah Sampson, a woman who fought in the Revolutionary War. The camp served as a place of rest, solitude, and fun. Member alumni societies would fundraise to upkeep the camp, remembering summer days spent next to the lake, “to wait as patiently as possible for next summer and Camp once more.”
Athletics was deeply embedded in the life of the EPH as an opportunity for exercise, learning about teamwork, and forming community. Athletic teams might expand their discussions to things other than sports, “always keeping the verbal combats verbal only,” showing the multifaceted approach to community at the Peabody House.
Athletics also communicated “American” values to house members, through patriotically named teams and the importance of sports to civic life.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials in this exhibit are from the Eva Whiting White papers, Simmons University Archives Manuscript Collection 022. The images and text on this web site are made available for study purposes only. They may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Simmons University Archives. For more information, please contact the University Archives at archives@simmons.edu.