By: Ellie Kaverman, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant
Born in Kentucky in 1899, Jane Fox attended the American College of Physical Education in Chicago before finishing her undergraduate degree at Columbia University in 1927. The same year, she was hired as an instructor in the women’s physical education department at Indiana University Bloomington.
Fox, a dancer herself, arrived in Bloomington ready to introduce modern dance to students.[1] While teaching, she worked towards her masters of education degree, which she earned in 1934. In 1933, she was promoted to assistant professor and again promoted to associate professor 1951.
Fox taught courses on natural and modern dance, in addition to courses for the teacher training program. Fox’s enthusiastic love of dance helped spur the creation of the first modern dance performing group at IU, the Terpischoreans, which later evolved into Fox’s modern dance workshop.[2] Her passion and support of dance education laid the groundwork for the 1949 formation of the dance major program, a precursor to IU’s contemporary dance program.[3]
Fox’s commitment in engaging the Bloomington campus and community in the art of dance was apparent in her role as a choreographer for first two productions of Wagner’s Parsifal, and as the choreographer for the Book of Ruth, an annual dance concert later presented by an Indianapolis television station.[4]
Fox was a member of the IU Auditorium services committee for 19 years.[5]
Fox also looked towards the national landscape to advocate for dance as an art and essential part of education. She was a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and served the organization in various capacities.[6]
Fox’s dedication to her students and dance was obvious in her statements about the impact of her dance classes. “In natural dance there was so much emphasis on the music, but in modern dance the emphasis was on the movement… [Students] used to leave my class beaming, because they had used their bodies creatively.”[7]
Fox retired from IU in 1965, after nearly 40 years of teaching in the women’s physical education department. After retiring, she led weekly exercise classes in the Bloomington community.[8] Fox died in 1991.
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
- Amanda Ferrara, “IU’s Contemporary Dance Program,” Blogging Hoosier History, IU Archives, March 15, 2016, https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2016/03/15/dance-program/.
- “Biographical Note,” Jane Fox papers, Collection C554, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- “B17-92, Memorial Resolution: Jane Fox,” Bloomington Faculty Council records, Collection C179, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- “Dance Festival Begins at IU Wednesday,” The Republic (Columbus, Indiana), Jan 11, 1987, Page 28.
Notes
[1] Amanda Ferrara, “IU’s Contemporary Dance Program,” Blogging Hoosier History, IU Archives, March 15, 2016, https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2016/03/15/dance-program/.
[2]“Biographical Note,” Jane Fox papers, Collection C554, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[3] Amanda Ferrara.
[4] “B17-92,Memorial Resolution: Jane Fox,”
[5] “B17-92,Memorial Resolution: Jane Fox,”
[6] “B17-92,Memorial Resolution: Jane Fox,”
[7] “Dance Festival Begins at IU Wednesday,” The Republic (Columbus, Indiana), Jan 11, 1987, Page 28.
[8] “B17-92,Memorial Resolution: Jane Fox,”