Florence Treadwell Boynton Explained

Florence Treadwell Boynton
Birth Name:Florence Elizabeth Treadwell
Birth Date:December 25, 1876
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Death Date:March 23, 1962 (age 85)
Death Place:Berkeley, California, U.S.
Occupation:Educator
Spouse(S):Charles Calvin Boynton
Children:8

Florence Elizabeth Treadwell Boynton (December 25, 1876 – March 23, 1962) was an American educator, artist, designer, and social reformer. She was "California's chief exponent of rhythmic gymnastics,"[1] and promoted "Open Air Motherhood", a parenting philosophy that maximized children's outdoor time.

Early life

Florence "Mina" Treadwell was born in San Francisco in 1876, the daughter of miner and inventor John Bartlett Treadwell[2] and Mary "May" Sulgwynn Wentworth Treadwell; the family understood May Wentworth to be the daughter of inventor Isaac Singer.[3] Florence Treadwell was raised in Oakland, where she and Isadora Duncan were close friends from girlhood.[4] [5]

Career

Treadwell taught music and dance, and opened an open-air dance studio in her Berkeley home, called the Temple of Wings[6] (sometimes misnamed "Temple of Winds"),[7] [8] inspired by Isadora Duncan's work.[9] She started four seasonal dance festivals. She promoted "Open Air Motherhood," a parenting philosophy that maximized children's outdoor time, beginning with outdoor birth, with attendant reforms in clothing,[10] footwear, diet, and education.[11] "It is not necessary that all women of a country be mothers," she said in 1911. "But it is necessary that all the children of a country be mothered and cared for in the best possible way."[12]

Personal life

Florence Treadwell was engaged to Augustin Duncan and William Randolph Hearst before she married attorney Charles Calvin Boynton. They had eight children together.[13] Her husband died in 1960, and she died in Berkeley, in 1962, at the age of 85.[14] Her home and studio, the Temple of Wings, is listed in the California State Historic Resources Inventory, and in 1991 was designated City of Berkeley Landmark.[15] [16]

Notes and References

  1. Wales, R. Ellis. "Allow Us to Introduce: Florence Treadwell Boynton" Good Housekeeping 52(4)(April 1911): 449-452; quote on 449.
  2. News: 1932-06-15 . Contest Filed Against Will by Bay Matron . 6 . Oakland Tribune . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Riess, Suzanne B. (1978). "Florence Treadwell, and Berkeley", an oral history interview with Boynton's son, Judd Boynton. Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library.
  4. Mckeon . Olive . 2020-09-01 . Florence Treadwell Boynton in Progressive Era Berkeley: Early Modern Dance and California's Political Unconscious . Dance Chronicle . 43 . 3 . 243–269 . 10.1080/01472526.2020.1819100 . 227241122 . 0147-2526.
  5. Mitchell, Margaretta K. (1985) "Dance for Life: Isadora Duncan and her California Dance Legacy at the Temple of Wings" Isadora Duncan Archive.
  6. News: Grieg . Michael . 1959-01-25 . The Temple of the Wings . 158, 159 . The San Francisco Examiner . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com.
  7. Web site: Berkeley Landmarks :: The Temple of Wings . 2022-11-17 . Berkeley Heritage.
  8. Web site: Miller . Michael . August–September 2010 . Concrete Memories Brought to Life by the Concretist . 2022-11-28 . Concrete Decor . en-US.
  9. Web site: Cerny . Susan . January 26, 2002 . Dance theories of Isadora Duncan were taught in Berkeley for years . 2022-11-28 . Berkeley Daily Planet.
  10. News: 1909-12-03 . Mrs. Boynton Declares Modern Woman's Garb Almost Indecent . 13 . Oakland Tribune . 2022-11-17 . Newspapers.com.
  11. Book: Weinstein, Dave . It Came from Berkeley: How Berkeley Changed the World . 2008 . Jones & Bartlett Learning . 978-1-4236-0254-5 . 57–58 . en.
  12. News: Boynton . Florence Treadwell . 1911-03-22 . Open Air Motherhood . 9 . The Chattanooga News . 2022-11-16 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1919-08-04 . 'God of the Open Air' Inspires Children in Wall-less Home with Spirit That Drives Out the Jazz Demon . 2 . Stockton Evening and Sunday Record . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: Moffat . Frances . 1962-03-27 . Inside Society: In Life, in Death A Non-Conformist . 21, 22 . The San Francisco Examiner . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com.
  15. Web site: Temple of Wings Historical Marker . 2022-11-28 . Historic Marker Database . en.
  16. News: Ketcharp . Diana . 1991-10-07 . On the Wings of Uncertainty . B1, B2 . . 2022-11-28 . Newspapers.com.

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