The average size of the American family shrunk throughout the 19th century as many upper and middle-class couples had fewer and fewer children. Social reformers found the declining birth rate among the established “native” White families alarming. New waves of Southern and Eastern European immigrants arriving with large families and high birth rates were thought to be a threat to the American “race.” Reasoning that healthy young women would produce larger families, high schools and academies began introducing athletic activities for girls. By the 1860s, female students could participate in calisthenics, tennis, badminton, and croquet. Additional offerings in the 1890s included basketball, swimming, cycling, and some track and field events. School athletic activities largely benefited upper and middle-class girls like these in a 1904 photograph of the Deerfield Academy girls basketball team in Deerfield, Massachusetts.