71-27,453 COURSEY, Leon N . , 1940- THE LIFE OF EDWIN BANCROFT HENDERSON AND HIS PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHYSICAL EDUCATION, The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Education, physical University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan ©Copyright by Leon N« Coursey 1971 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE LIFE OF EDWIN BANCROFT HENDERSON AND HIS PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHYSICAL EDUCATION DISSERTATION Presented :ln Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Leon N . Cour sey, B .A.> M .S. The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by Adviser Department of Physical Education PLEASE NOTE: Some pages have small and indistinct type. Filmed as received. University Microfilms : Edwin Bancroft Henderson in 1911 11 ACKNOIVLEDGMENTS IVhile it is impossible for me to make an individual acknowledgment to all the very kind people who helped me to complete this research project, I shall give special recognition to some of them but I shall always remember everyone in my heart. At the outset, I want to give special acknowledgment to my most sincere and personal adviser. Professor Bruce L, Bennett of The Ohio State University, for his warm encouragement, criticisms and suggestions. He and I know that without his assistance I would not have done this dissertation. It was Dr, Bennett who suggested this dissertation to me and I am profoundly appreciative, I am overwhelmingly grateful to Mr, Edwin B, Henderson, Mrs, Henderson, and thé other members of the Henderson family in Tuskegee, Alabama, for having me in their home and for treating me as one of their family, during the spring of 1969, while I interviewed Mr, Hender­ son, I want to convey ray deep appreciation to Cato W, Adams, Dr, William Dove Thompson, Mr, Wendall A. Parris, Frank Bolden, and other very kind people who have answered my letters of inquiry concerning Mr, Henderson and his productive educational career, iii I am indeed indebted to the Library of Congress, New York University Library, The New York Public Library, Harvard Library, and Howard University Library's Moorland Room which is administered by Mrs, Dorothy Porter and her wonderful staff. I also want to thank the general office personnel of Dunbar High School and Armstrong High School for their kind assistance in my endeavor to collect all pertinent information pertaining to Mr. Henderson's professional career. I want to give special recognition to Mr. Ken Burrow for his incredible patience while proof reading this dis­ sertation . I want to convey my most sincere respects to Miss Beverly M. LaBrecque for her kind assistance in photog­ raphy . I want to give my most profound thanks to Dr. Seymour Kleinman, Dr. James Sweeney and Dr. Charles L. Mand, members of my reading and oral examination committee, for their criticisms, suggestions and total interest in this endeavor. Also, special thanks to Dr. William Dowling, graduate school representative, for his kind assistance. Thank you all and may God continue to smile on each of you forever. XV VITA January 2, 1940............... Born - Flushing, New York June, 1958 Graduated from Jamaica High School, Jamaica, New York September, 1961. Honorably discharged from the Array September, 1961............... Academy of Aeronautics January, 1962-1966 ...... Letter Carrier, United States Post Office full time during day and attended Queens College at night January, 1968. ...... B.A., Queens College Flushing, New York January, 1963 - June, 1968 . Assistantship - Queens College, Flushing, New York September, 1968 - June, 1969 . Lecturer - Queens College, Flushing New York June, 1969 .......... M.A., Queens College, Flushing, New York June, 1969 - May, 1970 .... Teaching Assistant - The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio May, 1970. .......... Received permanent New York State Teaching Certificate September, 1970. ....... Instructor - The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Physical Education Professor Charles L. Mand Minor Fields: Education Administration Professor Donald P. Anderson Secondary Education Professor Robert Salmons Study in the History of Physical Education Professor Bruce L. Bennett VI CONTENTS Page ACKNGI’Æ,EDGMENT5............. ....................... '. i ü VITA ............................................ V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. .... ...................... CHAPTER I, INTRODUCTION......................... 1 II, FAI-1ILY HISTORY . ........................ 12 The Year of Birth ..................... 12 Family History.................... 16 Mary Ellen Meriwether and Marriage, • . 23 Family............... 26 III. SECONDARY AND COLLEGE EDUCATION..... 28 High School .............. 28 Normal School #2 and Miss Anita Turner. 29 1904............................... 36 Harvard's Summer School ........ 33 Medical School. 44 Howard and Columbia .......... 48 IV. A FIGHTER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS ......... 52 Washington Recreation Department. 52 Y.M.C.A............................. .. 54 Mixed Boxing and the Amateur Athletic Union. ................. 58 Daughters of the American Revolution. 62 Committee against Segregation in the Nation's Capitol .................... 64 Uline Arena .................... 65 Colored Citizens Protection League. 68 N.A.A.C.P.......................... 72 Vll CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER Page V. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATHLETICS AND THE OFFICIATING ASSOCIATION.................... 76 Interscholastic Athletic Association. 76 South Atlantic High School Athletic Conference ............. 78 Public School Athletic League ..... 79 Organizations for Athletic Competition. 82 Public School Elementary Athletic League ................. 83 Eastern Board of Officials and Officiating Problems ........ 87 The Pigskin Club. ........... 90 Washington School Club.................. 94 VI. PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.'S BLACK SCHOOLS FROM 1805 UNTIL 1920 . 96 Elementary Schools. « ............... 96 Junior High Schools ....... 105 M Street (Dunbar) High School . 107 Armstrong Manual Training School. , 113 Physical Educational Objectives for Black Secondary Schools from 1805 until 1920 ...... ........... 118 Problems. ......... ......... 119 VII. PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.'S BLACK SCHOOLS FROM 1920 UNTIL 1954 . 122 M Street High School............. 122 Armstrong High School ............... 124 Cardozo High School................ 125 Physical Educational Objectives for Black Secondary Schools. ...... 149 Summary .... ............. ..... 153 VIII. LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS........................ 155 Letters to the Editor ......... 155 Interscholastic Athletic Association H a n d b o o k ..................... 159 Books Written by Edwin B. Henderson . 160 vixi CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER Page IX, EDWIN BANCROFT HENDERSON, HIS FRIENDS AND NON-PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES.......... 171 Former Students ......... ...... 172 Professional Associates ........ 173 Other Prominent Associates. ...... 174 Night Farmer. ....... ........... 179 X, A LIFE IN R E V I E W ........................... 182 XI. EDWIN BANCROFT HENDERSON: AN APPRAISAL. 200 Development of Philosophy ....... 200 Problems............. 207 Personal Assessment .................. 208 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 213 ILLUSTRATIONS. ................................... 229 APPENDIX 1. A letter to the writer from Dr. William Dove Thompson, Superintendent of Recrea­ tion, Fairfax County, Virginia, commenting on Mr. Henderson as a student writing his Ph.D. dissertation, as a professional, and as a friend. ......... « ............. 249 2. A duplication of the Washington Normal School No. 2's graduation program for June 17, 1904 when Mr, Henderson gradu­ ated with honor as number one in his class..................... 252 3. A list of special instructors at D%^. Dudley Sargent's Harvard University Summer School for physical training for 1904, 1905 and 1907 when Mr. Henderson attended. 256 IX CONTENTS (continued) APPENDIX Page 4. Newspaper articles reporting on basket­ ball game in which Mr, Henderson par­ ticipated as the team's captain and high-scoring center. ........... 258 5. A statement by Mr. Henderson concerning the abolition of discriminatory practices at the National Theater in Washington, D.C.......................................... 260 6. An open letter to American sportsmen by the recreation committee of the Washing­ ton, D.C, branch of the N.A.A.C.P,, of which Mr. Henderson was a member, pro­ testing the local A.A.U.'s policy of segregation in boxing. ....... \ 263 7. A flyer protesting the discriminating policies of the Uline Arena. ....... 265 8. A statement by Mr. Henderson announcing the presentation of Washington's first large-scale all-black physical fitness exhibition at the Uline Arena, ...... 267 9. An architectural drawing of Mr. Hender­ son's Falls Church Park and Shopping Center ......... .................. 269 10, An example of the types of written harassment Mr. Henderson and his family had to endure during his productive and extensive career ............. 271 11, A statement by the Fairfax County Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. nominating Mr. Henderson for its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal. 273 12, A section of a basketball game program showing Mr. Henderson as manager of the I.S.A.A.'s basketball program............. 276 CONTENTS (continued) APPENDIX Page 13, program of the first Interscholastic Athletic Association's I.S.A,A, track and field meet on May 30, 1906 ...... 278 14, A newspaper article commenting