I just happened to do some prior research on that photo. Photo is of the Drexel Institute Womens' Rifle Team, circa 1925-27. Drexel is now Drexel University, in Philadelphia. The school was (& is) a place to learn marketable skills in applied technology, aimed at urban youth. All students were required to take PE. Women had (IIRC) 7 options for their PE classes, rifle shooting being one.
In "22 Caliber Rifle Shooting", C.S. Landis (1932) mentions this team as being one of the best 2 womens' smallbore teams in the country. They should have been allowed to compete at Camp Perry but Drexel had no travel budget for the girls.
The woman on the right is extremely tall, especially for the 1920s. I am curious about the tags on the coats of 2 or 3 of the women. Why? I asked a friend's ex-wife who now teaches at Drexel. She guessed that many Drexel students were & are very nearly destitute & perhaps had no suitable clothes of their own. She thought the coats may have been borrowed from the school's theatrical department.
Last edited by waterman; 07/22/10 01:47 AM.
