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Mary Jane Warner
Emma Scott Raff (ca.1880-1940) studied elocution in Toronto and Boston before opening her School of Expression, in 1901. Under the motto " A Sound Mind in a Sound Body," the curriculum included elocution, physical culture, pedagogy and literature. Margaret Eaton, wife of financier Timothy Eaton, became an enthusiastic supporter. In 1906, the Eatons financed a new building for the school, renamed the Margaret Eaton School of Literature and Expression, to train women teachers. The curriculum was constantly evolving. At first physical education focussed on aesthetic gymnastics, then folk dance was added in 1909. When the school was reorganized into the two departments of dramatic arts and physical education, in 1915, renowned New York dance instructor Louis Chalif's methods were added. Among the serious dance students were Mildred Marsh, who taught at the school, and Lucille McClure and Mildred Wickson, who taught ballet in Toronto into the 1960s. By 1924 the school was financially unstable; the Eatons wanted Scott Raff to concentrate only on the more profitable physical education department. Scott Raff, more interested in dramatic arts, resigned as principal, but the school continued until 1942, when it was merged into the physical education department at the University of Toronto.
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