Ruth Page Sweet: Student and Leader

 

Ruth Page Sweet, ca. 1920 and 1950.

 

Ruth Page Sweet graduated as a member of the fourth Boston School of Physical Education class in 1919. She trained as a physical educator, eventually working for the YWCA in New York. Her exceptional athleticism, enthusiasm, and mischievous sense of humor gained her a loyal group of friends. These qualities would later help her recruit students for the Bouvé program as she expanded the School's reach to include the greater Boston and New York metropolitan areas.

 

Sweet brought a distinguished résumé to the Boston School of Physical Education when she returned to the School in 1929. After receiving both her BS and MS in Education from Boston University, she became of Director of Health and Physical Education for the YWCA. Sweet served as Dean for seventeen years and as Director of the Bouvé-Boston School for twelve years.

As a graduate of the Boston School of Physical Education, she closely identified with the students under her charge. The construction of a student dormitory bearing her name attested to these relationships. In recognition of her professional achievements, Tufts awarded her an honorary Doctor of Education shortly before her death in 1958.

Top left: Dr. Ruth Page Sweet and students in a residence hall, 1947.

 

Top right: Cornerstone laying for Ruth Page Sweet Hall, 1957.

 

Bottom left: Boston-Bouvé students on the steps of Ruth Page Sweet Hall on the Tufts University campus, 1958.