By: Ellie Kaverman, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant
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Born in Salem, MA in 1909, Marjorie Phillips earned her degree from the Sargent School of Physical Education in 1930. The Sargent School was a pioneering institute of physical education.[1] Juliette Maxwell, an early woman in the physical education for women department, was also an alumna.
Phillips continued on with her education, receiving a bachelor’s in education from Boston University in 1931, a master’s from Wellesley College in 1935, and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1945.
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Phillips began her career as a physical education and biology teacher in Massachusetts public schools. While living in Wisconsin and working on her PhD, she taught physical education at Lawrence College until 1941.[2]
IU hired Phillips in 1941 as an assistant professor of physical education to work alongside colleagues such as Jane Fox and Edna Munro. She was promoted to associate professor in 1949 and again to professor of physical education in 1956.[3]
Edna Munro, director of the department of physical education for women, wrote high praises in her letter to Herman Briscoe in 1941, then the dean of faculties, recommending that the department hire Phillips: “Her experience has especially covered the tennis, badminton and camping field phase of our program… Miss Phillips has well developed skills in swimming, and all the other sports so she could adapt herself to any other part of the program. She has an excellent mind and ability to carry theoretical aspects of our program. She has, in addition, unusual personal qualities of refinement, high quality and character which I so desire in leaders in this department.”[4]
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Phillips’ primary focus while at Indiana University Bloomington was advancing research in the field of physical education. She was the first in the department of physical education for women to hold a doctorate and a frequent advisor for doctoral candidates.[5]
Phillips often contributed to Research Quarterly and the Journal of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. Phillips’ national prominence rose further in 1956 when she was selected to join President Eisenhower’s Conference on Fitness of American Youth.
In 1961, Phillips was selected for IU’s Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award, the first woman to receive the university’s highest and most prestigious teaching award.[6] Phillips was a crucial member of the small staff that taught, conducted research, and worked to enhance athletic opportunities for women at Indiana University before Title IX. As an “avid sports enthusiast,” Phillips helped to open the door for women in athletics and public health.[7]
Phillips died while working at Indiana University in 1961. In a Bloomington faculty memorial resolution written in her honor, it was stated “[Her] greatest tribute is that her teaching shall be perpetuated because her inspiration will be carried by those whom she led by example.”[8]
The School of Public Health offers a Marjorie P. Phillips Fellowship, an annual scholarship for a woman graduate student in kinesiology.[9]
Bibliography
- Olivia B. Waxman, “She Exposed the Discrimination in College Sports Before Title IX. Now She’s a Women’s History Month Honoree,” Time Magazine, March 1, 2018, https://time.com/5175812/title-ix-sports-womens-history/
- “HPER Renamed as School of Public Health-Bloomington,” IU Bloomington, May 15, 2018, https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/HPER+Renamed+as+School+of+Public+Health-Bloomington/1_x8qytnnx
- “Edna Munro: 1941-1942,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
- “Our History,” Boston College, Sargent College, https://www.bu.edu/sargent/about-us/our-history/.
- “Memorial Resolution for Marjorie Porter Phillips, ca. 17 October 1961,”Indiana University Faculty Council records, Collection C181, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- Mohammad R. Torabi, Barbara A. Hawkins, David Skirvin. “A Legacy Transformed: The Story of HPER and the Birth of the School of Public Health-Bloomington,” Indiana University Press, January 1, 2016.
- Marjorie Phillips, Carolyn Bookwalter, Charlotte Denman, Janet McAuley, Hilda Sherwin, Dean Summers & Helen Yeakel (1955) Analysis of Results from the Kraus-Weber Test of Minimum Muscular Fitness in Children, Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 26:3, 314-323, DOI: 10.1080/10671188.1955.10616447
- “Honoree: Marjorie R. Phillips,” University Honors and Awards, https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=3184.
- “Graduate School Fellowships,” School of Public Health. https://publichealth.indiana.edu/student-portal/financial-support/fellowships/index.html.
Notes
[1] “Our History,” Boston College, Sargent College, https://www.bu.edu/sargent/about-us/our-history/.
[2] “Memorial Resolution for Marjorie Potter Phillips, ca. 17 October 1961,”Indiana University Faculty Council records, Collection C181, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[3] “Memorial Resolution for Marjorie Potter Phillips, ca. 17 October 1961,”
[4] “Edna Munro: 1941-1942,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
[5] Mohammad R. Torabi, Barbara A. Hawkins, David Skirvin. “A Legacy Transformed: The Story of HPER and the Birth of the School of Public Health-Bloomington,” Indiana University Press, January 1, 2016.
[6] “Honoree: Marjorie R. Phillips,” University Honors and Awards, https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=3184.
[7] “Memorial Resolution for Marjorie Potter Phillips, ca. 17 October 1961,”
[8] “Memorial Resolution for Marjorie Potter Phillips, ca. 17 October 1961,”
[9] “Graduate School Fellowships,” School of Public Health. https://publichealth.indiana.edu/student-portal/financial-support/fellowships/index.html.