Encyclopedia of UNCG History
An online resource for exploring the history of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
physical education
Field Day
Field Day was an annual event held at the State Normal and Industrial College (later UNCG) from 1911 to the early 1930’s. Sponsored by the Physical Education Department, the program consisted of students participating in outdoor field events and later expanding to include dance and music performances. In 1930, the Curry School took over the […]
Ellen Griffin Seminar
Ellen Jean Griffin was a professor of physical education at the Woman’s College (later known as UNCG) from 1940 to 1968, and was one of the pioneers of women’s professional golf in the United States. In 1993, a seminar series was named after her and lasted until the late 1990s. These seminars were heavily focused […]
Ellen J. Griffin
Ellen Jean Griffin was a professor of physical education at the Woman’s College (later known as UNCG) from 1940 to 1968, and was one of the pioneers of women’s professional golf in the United States. After graduating from the Woman’s College in 1940 with a degree in Physical Education, she immediately joined the faculty of […]
Maude Broadaway (d. 1934)
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Maude Broadaway spent her initial college years at Salem Academy (now Salem College). She taught for several years in the Winston (N.C.) Public School System, and it was there that she met Charles Duncan McIver, a principal in a Winston public high school. McIver later founded the State Normal […]
Ethel Martus Lawther (d. 1990)
Ethel Martus Lawther was hired by Mary Channing Coleman as a professor within the Department of Physical Education in 1931. Upon Coleman’s death in 1947, Martus became only the second head of the school’s Department of Physical Education. She was an early proponent of the importance of physical activity for girls and women and stressed the […]
Department of Kinesiology
In 2009, the name of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science was changed to the Department of Kinesiology. The change was made to reflect a broader view of the field and better align with like programs at other universities. Department Heads: Joseph Starnes (2009-2012) Sandra J. Shultz (2013- )
Department of Exercise and Sport Science
In 1989, the name of the Department of Physical Education was changed to the Department of Exercise and Sport Science. Shirl J. Hoffman, who had been serving as the department head for physical education, continued as head of the renamed department. In 2009, the name of the department was changed to the Department of Kinesiology. The […]
Department of Physical Education
Physical education, originally called physical culture, began as hygiene and physiology instruction taught by the college’s resident physician. A gymnasium was established in the Main Building. Plans and funding for a new gymnasium were crushed in 1900 after a typhoid fever epidemic. A mandatory walking period and intramural athletics continued for many years without formal curriculum. […]
School of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
Physical education, originally called physical culture, began as hygiene and physiology instruction taught by the college’s resident physician. Yet, it was not until 1921 that a Department of Physical Education was created, with Mary Channing Coleman serving as the first department head. Following the sudden death of Coleman in 1947, Ethel L. Martus succeeded her as […]
School of Health and Human Performance
The School of Health and Human Performance (HHP) was established in 1991 and encompassed programs previously included in the School of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (HPERD). In a 2012 restructuring, HHP was dissolved, and three of the five academic departments moved to the newly formed School of Health and Human Sciences. Celia Hooper, […]