Ivy League Posture Photos
Yale started taking nude photos of incoming freshmen in 1919 as part of a program to detect and correct posture problems. The Yale photos have erroneously been associated with William Sheldon, a psychologist at Harvard and author of Nazi-like eugenic theories who used Harvard nude posture photos to illustrate his theory of somatypes. But, as far as I can tell, the Yale photos are not connected to Sheldon's work.
Here are five more posture photos taken at Yale that I had the opportunity to acquire. For privacy reasons, I redact the names of men who might still be alive. Four of these men have passed away, so their names are not redacted.
This is Yale freshman William C. Everett on Oct. 5, 1953.
An article in the Journal of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation described how in spring, 1952, Yale installed an apparatus using mirrors to produce "PhotoMetric" posture photos like this showing front, rear, side and top views.
This is Yale freshman Charles Bell Everitt on Oct. 6, 1953.
Note the strange pins stuck to each student's back and chest. The pins were stuck on at specific points for later posture analysis. Supposedly, by examining the angles formed by connecting the points where the pins touched the body, certain posture problems could be detected.
This is Yale freshman William Michael Finn on Oct. 7, 1953.
This is Yale freshman Jack S. M. Erickson on Oct. 9, 1953.
This is Yale freshman E. F. on Oct. 10, 1953.
Were these photos an invasion of privacy for the students? By today's standards, yes. By the standards of the day, not so much. In that era, guys were routinely naked around each other in locker rooms and in swimming pools when women weren't present. Being asked to strip and even being photographed naked as part of a posture examination would not seem too outrageous, since the staff conducting this was all-male (and remember that Yale was an all-male school).
15 comments:
I don't think these photos would have been problematic back then. But I have never seen an explanation of HOW they were used in the posture studies, or to improve posture.
very interesting!!
Damn! Talk about a shmorgesh of body’s!
I still question the republication now (when, as you rightly say, standards are different) of photos of individuals (with their names) who were young, ostensibly directed by other people "in charge", and presumably to participate in some educational study --that is, with no expectation of being exposed in this particular way to an "audience" other than what they anticipated. It would bother me if I found out my brother or father was among them. ARE these "unashamed males"? These are questions, not a criticism.
"Welcome to Yale, men. Now, report to the gym and take off all your clothes. We need to see what you look like, butt-ass naked. Just for scientific purposes, of course."
Talk about the ultimate meet and greet!
I always like these.
Were the Everett brothers?
@Dee Exx - Mr. Everett and Mr. Everitt had different last names. They were not brothers.
@Anon - I understand why you question whether these are "unashamed males." True, at the time they were unashamed to be measured and photographed naked in an all-male setting, but with no expectation of the photos becoming public. But I see no fundamental difference between publishing these photos and publishing photos of naked athletes from the LIFE photo archive that were also taken with no expectation that they would ever be made public. As to publishing the names of the students, I respect their privacy by only publishing names of those who have died, unlike an online auction site that has published the names of all of them. Legally, the right to privacy ends at death. It does not extend to brothers, children, grandchildren, etc. ad infinitum.
@Big Dude - Worrying about "posture problems" in college students seems strange to us now, but apparently it was considered important back then. These photos were made into slides and projected onto a screen, and then the angles between lines connecting certain points where the pins were attached to the student's back and chest were measured. Supposedly these angles revealed whether problems existed. An article published in the journal of the American Society for Photogrammetric Engineering in April, 1956 describes the method in excruciating detail:
https://www.asprs.org/wp-content/uploads/pers/1956journal/apr/1956_apr_357-362.pdf
If posture problems were detected, the student had to attend sessions to improve his posture, but I don't know what those sessions involved.
Oh I get it, UM, and thank you for responding. I agree that the Life sports photos represent a similar or related situation, another gradation on the spectrum of consent and purpose (though usually the presence of cameras in a locker room is subject to a tacit understanding that the nude bodies would not be shared indiscriminately--hence their remaining, for the most part till now, unpublished). And as often as not these sporting adults seem very comfortable to be naked in front of the camera, something less easy to conclude about the young college students here. Anyway I certainly wasn't pretending to speak in legal terms; and naturally I love to look at the nude male body... but I prefer to think that the owner of that body consents (or would have consented) to my seeing it, rather than that their interest in the matter died with them.
I know I'm not alone in remembering when I was a kid and seeing nude indigenous people, most often non-white people, in National Geographic. I thought that was somehow wrong, too--not their nudity! But the inescapable notion that they might not have had a say in maintaining their own control over their privacy. Sorry to go on like this! Clearly I am a very easily shamed male! But I thank you for helping me to think through the deceptively straightforward issue.
> It would bother me if I found out my brother or father was among them. <
I don't have many photos of my father and his father, who both went to University of Pennsylvania, so I would be happy to settle for finding a photo of either in this collection.
Yale seemed only to admit fit young specimens. Was this because the admissions' office knew each young man would have to strip naked? Just imagine, scores and scores of new students every fall, paraded around in the nude for the administration's viewing pleasure.
What I like about those photos is that they are of normal persons not in sexual setting. And they also provide a glimpse of the ramping up of circumcison in USA.
If you accept to be photographed for a medical study and find those photos are later published for everyone to see, I can see the problem unless they are anonymised. There is value in this "inventory" of the student body back in that era. (and would be interesting to compare against equivalent study done today).
Consider the Time Life locker room photos of some famous baseball/hockey players. These photos were not taken in secret but out in the open and players had no problem being nude when reporters were in locker room. And by now, these persons would be very old and would likely be proud to see their younger very fit body still appreciated.
On other hand, suppose Biden or some other president had gone to Yale, he might not approciate if those medical images of him naked circulating (even though likely good for his campaign).
But as long as the persons remain anonymous or not associated with someone living today, these images provide a glimpse of what the student body looked like back then in a totally asexual context.
If you go to a nudist beach, you know there is a social expectation that pictures of you won't be taken, but also know there is a risk a pic of you will exist, so can't *really* complain if one is taken and published. Same if you do these naked bike rides or naked runs. If you are comfortable being seen naked in public, then you don't mind so much. But those stature photos were tajken in private, even if in other circumstance, the student might be swimming naked in the university pool.
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