History of the School
The University of Minnesota was founded in 1851, seven years before
Minnesota gained statehood. The first organized program at the
University related to physical activity was compulsory military
training for all men in the freshmen class, beginning in 1862. While
many men complained about the military training obligation, some
women clamored for the privilege of doing so. In 1886, Company Q was
organized for women to participate in military drills.
In 1879, male students campaigned for gymnastic training which led
to Professor A. Kindervarter conducting calisthenics four times a
week on campus. Kindervarter was a member of the Minneapolis
Turners, a group devoted to practicing the German system of
gymnastics. Some women also participated in the activities directed
by Kindervarter, albeit at times separate from the men. In 1880, an
athletic association was established to foster sports of all kinds,
especially football. Six years later, Professor Frederick Jones from
the Department of Physics was elected president of the Athletic
Association, and shortly thereafter was appointed the faculty
director of athletics. He served in that capacity until 1908.
The military training unit for women, Company Q, continued until
1892, when a more conventional physical activity program for women
was established under the Department of Physical Culture, headed by
Louise Kiehle from 1892-1900. This program, required for all
freshmen women in the College of Science, Literature, and the Arts,
was intended to help women "develop a strong and symmetrical
physique with a graceful and easy carriage."
In 1897, Louis "Doc" Cooke, who received an M.D. from the
University of Vermont and previously served as the physical director
of the Minneapolis YMCA, was hired as the gymnasium director for
men. His position also was referred to as the director of the
Department of Physical Culture for Men in the University's 10th
Biennial Report and as the director of the Department of Physical
Education for Men in the University Senate Constitution. Cooke was
the coach of the University's first intercollegiate basketball team
in 1897 and, in the 1901-02 season, his team was undefeated and won
clear title to the championship of American colleges. During these
years, both the men's and women's physical culture programs were
carried out at the Armory and the fields around the Armory, although
the men were allocated far more space than the women.
In 1895, the Women's Athletic Association began with the Ladies
Tennis Association, and sponsored interscholastic basketball for the
first time in 1902. The tennis and basketball teams in these early
years were coached by men, including Cooke. The Women's Athletic
Association became allied with the Department of Physical Education
for Women in 1913, with almost all women's athletic activities on
campus organized under its auspices.
In 1901, the Department of Physical Culture for Women became the
Department of Physical Education for Women, headed by Ann Butner.
Required courses continued for all freshmen women and, in addition,
a variety of electives were offered called "sports and pastimes,"
consisting of basketball and other games. In 1906, a course of study
for teachers of physical education was begun, which led to
certification to teach physical education. In 1911, J. Anna Norris,
an M.D. graduate from Northwestern, came to Minnesota from the
University of Chicago and was appointed director of the Department
of Physical Education for Women in 1912. She held this position
until 1941 when she retired. When she came to the University of
Minnesota, Norris' duties included that of health officer
responsible for the sanitary inspection of lodging houses and for
the physical examination of all women entering the University. She
also investigated cases of illness in the dormitories and boarding
houses. Her services preceded those of the Student Health Service,
established in 1918.
In 1908, Frederick Jones, then the Dean of the College of
Engineering, resigned as president of the Athletic Association after
student athletes bitterly complained that he had overstepped his
authority in committing the University to new regulations intended
to diminish the creeping professionalism in college football at a
meeting of athletic representatives of western colleges in Chicago.
Jones' resignation strengthened the resolution of the regents to put
athletics completely under the control of faculty. Thus, in 1912,
the University Senate appointed two standing committees on physical
activities and athletics: the Committee on Intra-mural Sports and
Physical Education and the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics.
The Committee on Intra-mural Sports and Physical Education, composed
of the heads of the Departments of Physical Education for Men
(Cooke) and Physical Education for Women (Norris) and five other
outside faculty, was charged with supervising the gymnasium and
athletic grounds of the University in relation to the physical and
intramural programs. The Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics,
composed of five faculty members, was responsible for all sources of
revenue and had veto power over all decisions made by the athletics
board of control.
Henry Williams, an M.D. like Cooke and Norris, had coached football
at the University of Minnesota since 1900, and had many outstanding
teams up to 1916. But, new regulations on recruiting and subsidizing
athletes led to many losses and, after the 1920 season, there was
great debate throughout the University, publicized in great detail
in the Minnesota Daily, whether he should be fired. L.D. Coffman, in
his first year as president of the University, was dedicated to
maintaining strong academic standards in athletics and to not
overemphasize wins and championships. In response to this great
turmoil over Williams, he created a new Department of Physical
Education and Athletics which would be responsible for all
intramural and intercollegiate athletics. This new department began
in 1922 with Fred Luehring as its director, and included a program
in intramurals, headed by Walter Smith until 1954, and a program in
recreation leadership. In 1921, Williams was let go as football
coach and replaced by William Spaulding.
After several years of intense lobbying by Norris, the Women's
Gymnasium was built and opened in 1915. This building, one of the
first gymnasiums built at an American college exclusively for
women's programs, was renamed the "Norris Gymnasium for Women" after
her retirement in 1941. In 1918, the Student Health Service opened
in Pillsbury Hall, with Norris holding weekly office hours at the
Student Health Service and continuing to conduct physical
examinations for all women students in the Women's Gymnasium until
1929, when the Student Health Service moved to its present location
in the University Hospital and took over these duties. In 1917, the
requirement for physical education for women was extended to two
years and, in 1919, a four-year course for the preparation of
teachers in physical education was set up separately in the men's
and women's departments under the auspices of the College of
Education. A student could major or minor in physical education, and
receive a bachelor of science degree in physical education. The
first graduates of these programs received their degrees in 1922.
Also in 1919, the Women's Athletic Association became a charter
member of the Athletic Conference of American College Women and, in
1924, a charter member of the National Amateur Athletic Federation.
Norris was an initial member of the Executive Committee of the
Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation,
established in 1923 under the direction of Mrs. Herbert Hoover, and
the chair of the committee which set the standards for sport
participation for girls and women. In addition, Norris was one of 28
charter members of the American Academy of Physical Education,
established in 1930.
In 1924, Memorial Stadium was dedicated to the University of
Minnesota students who had fought and died in World War 1; in 1928,
the University Fieldhouse, now named Williams Arena after Henry
Williams, was built; and, in 1934, the Indoor Sports building for
men opened, later renamed Cooke Hall after Louis "Doc" Cooke. In
1938, a master of education degree in physical education and a
bachelor of science degree in recreation leadership were established
through the College of Education.
In 1929, the College of Agriculture, the College of Education, and
the College of Science, Literature, and the Arts granted academic
credit for physical education required of all students in both the
men's and women's departments for the first time. But, in 1933, the
requirement for all men to engage in military training and physical
education in the course of their academic careers was eliminated.
In 1930, Herbert Crisler became the head of Department of Physical
Education and Athletics as athletic director (following Luehring)
and the new football coach (following Spaulding, who went to UCLA).
After Crisler left to go to the University of Michigan, Frank
McCormick took over as department head and athletic director from
1932-50, and also served as the baseball coach. Louis Keller was the
acting director from 1941-45 while McCormick was involved in
military service. In 1947, two new Graduate School degree options
were established: a master of arts in education with a concentration
in physical education for men, and a doctor of philosophy in
education with a minor in physical education. Ike Armstrong became
athletic director and head of the Department of Physical Education
and Intercollegiate Athletics in 1950 and remained in that position
until 1963, when he was replaced by Marshall Ryman. In 1954, C.E.
"Pat" Mueller took over the leadership of the intramural programs
for men from Walter Smith.
In 1945, Gertrude Baker took over as director of the Department of
Physical Education for Women, and also served as acting director
from Norris' retirement in 1941 to 1945 and Director from 1945 to
1962. In 1957, the Department of Physical Education for Women was
placed in the College of Education. Up to this date, the department
was a free-standing academic unit within the University. When Baker
retired in 1962, Eloise Jaeger took over as director of the
Department of Physical Education for Women.
In 1963, the School of Physical Education in the College of
Education was established as an umbrella for the Departments of
Physical Education for Men, Physical Education for Women, Recreation
Leadership, and a program in School Health Education. The department
heads for these three departments were Dean Richardson, Helen
Slocum, Eloise Jaeger, and Pat Mueller, respectively. Under Slocum
in School Health Education, a school health education minor, an
M.A., and Ph.D. in physical education with an emphasis on school
health was established. It was necessary to label the degree as such
for the Department of Public Health in the Medical School objected,
thinking the degree would become confused with the public health
degree. The program was later phased out in the late 1980s due to
sweeping retrenchments throughout the University. Intramural
programs for women and dance programs for both men and women
continued to be operated through the Department of Physical
Education for Women, and Intramurals for Men operated through the
Department of Recreation Leadership. Richard Donnelly, who first
came to the University in 1955, was appointed the first director of
the School of Physical Education. At this time, men's athletics
became an entity unto itself, separate from physical education.
In 1965, Intramurals for Men became its own department in the
School of Physical Education. In 1966, the department name for
recreation leadership was changed to recreation and park
administration and, at the same time, a master of arts degree in
recreation and park administration and a doctor of philosophy in
education with an emphasis in recreation and park administration
were established. The doctor of philosophy in physical education was
initiated in 1969.
Donnelly, the director of the School of Physical Education, was
killed in an airplane crash in 1969. Eloise Jaeger became the acting
director and was officially appointed as director of the School of
Physical Education in 1971. She was the first woman at an American
college or university to have administrative authority over both
men's and women's physical education programs and she also held
administrative authority over the school health, recreation
(professional), and intramurals programs.
In 1971, the name of the school was changed to the School of
Physical Education, Recreation, and School Health Education. The
next year, several of the programs in the School merged: the
Departments of Physical Education for Men and Physical Education for
Women became the Department of Physical Education, and the
Departments of Intramurals-Extramurals for Men, Recreation and Park
Administration, and intramural programs for women became the
Department of Recreation and Park Administration. Dr. Belmar
Gunderson continued as Coordinator for intramurals and extramurals
for women which eventually gave rise to Women's Intercollegiate
Athletics. In 1973, intramurals for men moved out of the School of
Physical Education, Recreation, and School Health Education to the
Office of Student Affairs, and became the Department of Intramurals-Extramurals
Sports. In 1975, this unit was renamed the Office of Recreational
Sports.
In 1975, the School of Physical Education, Recreation, and School
Health Education was reorganized into three divisions: physical
education; recreation, park, and leisure studies; and school health
education. Dance was a program subsumed under physical education.
Consistent with these changes, the degree names in recreation were
changes to a bachelor of science, master of education, and master of
arts in recreation, park, and leisure studies, and a doctor of
philosophy in education with an emphasis in recreation, park, and
leisure studies.
At the same time, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics for
Women was established in 1975, with Belmar Gunderson as its interim
director and Vivian Barfield as its first official director. Also in
1975, Jaeger became Assistant Dean of the College of Education, and
Jack Alexander took over as acting director of the School. In 1977,
G. Alan Stull was appointed the third director of the School of
Physical Education, Recreation, and School Health Education, coming
from the University of Kentucky. In 1983, the Division of School
Health Education was dropped and the dance program was moved to the
Department of Theatre Arts in the College of Liberal Arts.
In 1984, G. Alan Stull moved on to the University of Wisconsin, and
John Schultz became the acting director of the School. In 1986,
Michael Wade became director of the School of Physical Education and
Recreation, with previous academic administration appointments at
Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois. Under
Wade's leadership, the school changed its name to the School of
Kinesiology and Leisure Studies in 1991, with a Division of
Kinesiology and a Division of Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies.
At the same time, the bachelor of science, master of arts, and
doctor of philosophy degrees in physical education were changed to
kinesiology, while the M.Ed. degree remained in physical education.
An undergraduate program in sport studies was added to the school
beginning in the 1996-97 academic year, the first new degree program
in over 30 years. This program draws from resources in the two
divisions of the School, but has its own courses and unique
objectives. In 2000, the Division of Recreation, Park, and Leisure
Studies was renamed the Division of Recreation and Sport Studies.
The name of the school changed in March 2002 to School of
Kinesiology, dropping the leisure studies portion in an effort to
reflect the more generic, physical activity based mission of the
School.
The School of Kinesiology is one of nine departments in the College
of Education and Human Development. In 2005, Mary Jo Kane, professor
and director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in
Sport, was named director of the school, replacing Michael Wade, who
had held the position for 19 years. In 2005 the faculty voted to
eliminate the two divisions, Kinesiology and Recreation, Park, and
Leisure Studies, and combine all programs under a single governance.
Nine degrees are offered through the school, including the bachelor
of science in sport management; the bachelor of science, master of
arts, and doctor of philosophy in kinesiology; the master of
education in physical education; the bachelor of science, master of
arts, and master of education in recreation, park, and leisure
studies; and the doctor of philosophy in education with an emphasis
in recreation, park, and leisure studies.
compiled by the late Dr. Allen W. Burton and updated
June 2007
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