kinsey_sc.html

DANIEL CHAPIN KINSEY,1902-1970
PAPERS, 1922-1970
SCOPE AND CONTENT

The personal papers of Daniel Chapin Kinsey, 1922-70, mainly document the teaching and coaching career of a member of the Department of Physical Education for Men at Oberlin College. Indirectly, the historical materials also provide information about an academic department that was opposed to the growing trend of professionalism in collegiate athletics and continued to support the belief that athletics were a means of accomplishing the aims of education in general. There is modest information respecting Kinsey's academic appointments at Earlham College and Delta College.

This collection consists of the following record series; I. Biographical Data; II. Academic Teaching Files; III. Coaching Files; IV. Community Service; V. Correspondence, and VI. Historical Writing Files. The files support a wider understanding of Oberlin College. Files relating to Kinsey's teaching and coaching careers (Series II and III) are fairly routine. Research materials documenting the swimming, cross country and track teams are most abundant. His lecture notes and printed matter on sex education, 1905-1939, are descriptive and prescriptive material on male-female relationships and information on contraception, venereal disease, and sexual activity.

The Department of Physical Education staff meeting notes, 1940-1958, document both the women's and the men's physical education and athletic programs. A newsletter and a 1954 alumnae directory report on department news and list names, addresses, and current activities of physical education alumnae for the classes of 1894 to 1954. Single documents include a paper by student Helen M. Foster titled "The Bacteriology of Milk" and the "Report of the Committee to Evaluate the Recreation Program of the Phyllis Wheatley Center."

Included in this male-dominated collection, especially in the coaching and historical writing files, is information about the women's physical education program. Of special interest is the documentation on the women's gymnasium, 1873-1890, and its director, Dr. Delphine Hanna (1854-1941), who served from 1885 to 1920. A letter from Hanna to "her girls" describes her initial training in physical education, her early experience at Oberlin, and the Ladies Hall fire of 1885. Notes from a conversation with Fannie Wright, 1933, a nongraduating student of the 1880s who taught physical education with Hanna in 1888 and replaced her while she was on leave until 1890, are also documented.

In addition, series three and six also contain research materials and notes for Kinsey's thesis, "The History of Physical Education in Oberlin College, 1833-1890," They are mostly undated, but are probably circa 1920s and 1930s.

In Series IV, Community Service, there are several programs and publications from activities sponsored jointly by the YWCA and the YMCA which Kinsey was involved with spanning 1930s to 1950s. A modest amount of materials relating to the Shansi Memorial Association and the Oberlin Recreation Committee are also located in this series.

Series V, Correspondence, 1922-1970, includes a number of letters from women in behalf of organizations or institutions regarding recreation, sports, job recommendations, and Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association. Correspondence with other physical education professors or coaches usually concerns track and cross country. A modest amount of correspondence is from other Quakers (American Friends Service Committee) and sheds light on that portion of his life.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Biographical Files, 1932-1933, n.d., (0.2 lin. ft.)

Included in this miscellaneous file is information on Kinsey's tenure as secretary of the American Olympians (1932-33) as well as select biographical and genealogical information about Kinsey and his family.

Series II. Academic Teaching Files, 1949-67, n.d., (1.9 lin. ft.)

Organized around six subseries: 1. Grades, 2. Intramural Program, 3. General Teaching Files, 4. Student Papers, 5. Printed Materials, and 6. Faculty Minutes. Includes minutes of physical education faculty meetings with notes. Teaching materials cover the subjects of swimming, track, fencing and other classes taught by Kinsey. Files containing student grades are restricted. His involvement in intramurals is documented. Materials cover his teaching at Oberlin, Earlham and Delta Colleges; included are booklets on sex education from the 1930s.

Series III. Coaching Files, 1919-1958, n.d., (2.1 lin. ft.)

Organized around five subseries, the Coaching Files (viz., Cross country, track and field, and swimming) are documented as 1. General Files, 2. Cross Country and Track, 3. Football, 4. Swimming and 5. Printed Materials. Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) records for the 1940s are also located in this series. An example of the printed material is a bound collection of swimming and cross country newsletters and a track scorebook for 1925.

Series IV. Community Service, 1930s-1950s, (0.8 lin. ft.)

Kinsey's involvement with the Oberlin Recreation Committee, the YMCA, YWCA, the Shansi Committee and the church are documented in this series. The YMCA, YWCA and Shansi materials are related to Oberlin College programs, although the other materials are not.

Series V. Correspondence, 1930s-1950s, (0.6 lin. ft.)

A modest amount of correspondence relating to physical education, the Quakers, and coaching is arranged alphabetically in two boxes (A-R and S-Z).

Series VI. Historical Writing Files, (0.2 lin. ft.)

Included are research notes and materials used by Kinsey in writing his thesis (unpublished) on "The History of Physical Education in Oberlin, 1833-1890" (Michigan, 1961).

RELATED MATERIALS

For related materials the researcher is encouraged to consult the records of the Physical Education Department (9/6), the Department of Physical Education for Women (9/6/4), the Shansi Memorial Association (15) and the YMCA-YWCA (29). The papers of John H. Nichols (30/131) and Fred Leonard (30/47) may also be helpful. For more biographical information on Daniel Kinsey see his faculty and student files in the Alumni and Development Records (28/3, Box 44; 28/1, Box 483).