By: Ellie Kaverman, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant
Edna Munro was born Moline, IL in 1892. Munro earned her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1922. After college, Munro was hired as dead of the department of physical education at a YWCA in Harlem, NY.[1] After working at various YWCAs, Munro taught at the State Teachers College in Bloomsburg, PA and at Illinois State University.
In 1928, Munro was hired by Indiana University as an associate professor and chair of the Department of Physical Education for Women. She took over from Juliette Maxwell, the first individual to lead the department. Her appointment was marked by the onset of the Great Depression, and thus her initial time in the department was marked by financial stress that challenged the growth of the department.
Munro demonstrated abundant initiative and creativity in successfully growing a department during the Depression. When she was appointed, there were only five full-time faculty members and one part-time graduate assistant; twenty years later, there were a total of ten faculty members.
She also expanded the department’s offerings to include horseback riding, golf, and swimming, just to name a few. Munro balanced a tight budget while she sought to expand the program’s offerings to keep up with other university women’s physical education programs.[2]
Apart from expanding the department’s course offerings, Munro supported her department faculty’s interests in research and advocated to the university administration for more research funding.
Munro wrote in a 1945 letter to IU President Herman B Wells of her department’s research: “The return of Dr. Marjorie Phillips to the Department of Physical Education for Women this fall after a leave in study has made it possible for this department to definitely embark on a more comprehensive program in research related to the field of physical education. I feel very keenly this is a necessary phase of our work, which should be promoted and supported in every possible way.”[3]
Munro was involved in regional, national, and international organizations dedicated to promoting physical education to women. She was a lifetime honorary member in both the Midwest and National Associations for Physical Education for College Women after decades of service in both organizations.[4]
Munro organized the first photography exhibit of physical education at universities in the U.S. displayed at the first International Congress of Physical Education for Women, held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1949.[5]
Munro retired from IU in 1961. After spending more than 30 years at the helm of women’s physical education at IU Bloomington, Munro set to memorialize the history of the department by writing and publishing The History of the Department of Physical Education for Women at Indiana University in 1971. She died in 1982.
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
- “MEMORIAL RESOLUTION PROFESSOR EMERITUS EDNA FRANCES MUNRO,” Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, December 7, 1982.
- “Edna Munro: 1937-1938,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
- “Edna Munro: 1945-1946,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
Notes
[1] “MEMORIAL RESOLUTION PROFESSOR EMERITUS EDNA FRANCES MUNRO,” Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, December 7, 1982.
[2] “Edna Munro: 1937-1938,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
[3] “Edna Munro: 1945-1946,” Indiana University President’s Office records, 1937-1962, C213, Box 402. Indiana University Archives.
[4] “MEMORIAL RESOLUTION PROFESSOR EMERITUS EDNA FRANCES MUNRO,”
[5] “MEMORIAL RESOLUTION PROFESSOR EMERITUS EDNA FRANCES MUNRO,”