Margo Gray

So in the 50s and 60s, physical fitness tests became routine on college campuses, built into orientation programs, PE classes, medical screenings for incoming students, and posture exams became a key part of those tests at schools across the country.

The exact nature of the posture exams differed from campus to campus and year to year.

At some places, an examiner simply looked you up and down and took notes.

Other campuses used tools like the Schematograph, a device that allowed examiners to manually trace a student's silhouette.

In most cases, students posed nude for these posture photographs, maybe if they were lucky, in a bathing suit or halter top.

The camera captured every angle, front, back, profile.

Examiners then scrutinized the images.

And at most schools, if your posture didn't meet the ideal standard, you were sent to corrective classes.

Remember Richard?

He ended up failing his posture exam, so he had to take these classes during his freshman year at Yale.

He can't recall exactly how long the program lasted, but he's certain it stretched on for at least several weeks.

Once he finished, though, he says he more or less forgot about the whole thing.

Richard didn't think about those poster photos for decades.

Then something made him remember and begin to rethink everything.

By the 1960s, posture photography had become standard practice at universities across the country.

thousands of students were photographed naked each year.

At Yale, that included George Bush and Bob Woodward.

At Wellesley, Hillary Clinton and Diane Sawyer.

At Vassar, Meryl Streep.

At most schools, a majority of freshmen failed the test.