2 session series: Thursday Sept. 26 and Thursday October 17, 1:00 to 2:15 (ET)

Host: SCARSDALE ADULT SCHOOL, Online

Class Fee: $ 55 for BOTH sessions. Each session will include an audience Q&A.
Recordings will be made available to registrants for a limited time following the program.

Uncover the history of women’s exercise & fitness for health, wellness, & bodily appearance through two separate visits from experts. Learn how fitness fads & conflicts influenced social change in relation to gender discrimination & feminism, citizenship and political participation, racism & resistance, consumer capitalism, "wellness culture," the workplace, & sexuality.

The first session features journalist Danielle Friedman, author of Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World (2022), chronicling entrepreneurs behind the barre method, Jazzercise, city marathons, yoga studios, and more. The second session features Ava Purkiss, Assistant Professor of History at U. Michigan and author of Fit Citizens: A History of Black Women’s Exercise from Post-Reconstruction to Postwar America (2023). Learn how physical activity was not merely a path to health but also a way for Black women to support broader efforts for racial equality. From Jane Fonda to Michelle Obama, fitness leaders empowered people to improve personal and social welfare—one workout at a time.