Kent Sporting Legacy Lives On

North West Kent College has received a grant of £20,000 to support the development of its famous Madame Osterberg archive. 

Following a successful bid by Greenwich University, where the archive is housed, the Olympic Challenges Fund has provided a grant to help restore the collection to its former glory.

Madame Osterberg (1849-1915) from Sweden, revolutionised women’s sport in the nineteenth century, using physical education as a tool for female emancipation and ‘preparation for motherhood’.

North West Kent College provided the original setting for her Physical Education training. The methods employed at the college left many lasting legacies in sport, which also influenced other educational establishments all around the world. One such legacy was to remove the restrictive corset from women’s sport, instead introducing a ‘gym tunic’ which went on to be worn at every school.

Pioneer for women’s sport and education

The Bergman Osterberg Archive provides a unique insight into this unique figure in sport and educational history, the use of the college and the achievements of the women who were educated there. The archive collection dates back to the original foundation of ‘The Bergman Osterberg Physical Training College’ in 1885, through to its closure as a specialist college in 1986, then known as Dartford College of Physical Education.

There are books, registers, trophies, photographs, letters, newspaper cuttings, uniform, details of royal visits, and portraits of international sportswomen covering one hundred years of pioneering change for women.

For more information on the archive and to book a visit follow this link.

For Information on Kent Sport and the 2012 Games, please visit our Your Sport Section.