Title: Daniel Chapin Kinsey Papers, 1922-1970

ID: RG 30/048

Extent: 5.8 Linear Feet

Daniel Chapin Kinsey, the son of Edward and Inez Wheeler Kinsey, was born in St. Louis in 1902. He attended college at the University of Illinois where he became a star hurdler. He won the 110 meters hurdles event at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France. His time of 15 seconds flat was one-fifth of a second more than the best previous Olympic time. He also won the I.C.A.A. high hurdles championship in 1924 and the low hurdles championship in 1925. In addition, he played football with "Red" Grange, the Galloping Ghost, in the halfback spot, but broke his leg.

After receiving his B.S. degree in education from the University of Illinois in 1926, he briefly attended the University of Chicago and George Williams College. While at the University of Chicago he met and married South Dakotan Dorothy Gross (1903-73) in 1929. At Oberlin College he earned his M.A. degree in physical education in 1935 while he taught in the Department of Physical Education for Men.

During his 30 years at Oberlin College, Kinsey offered courses such as History and Principles of Physical Education, Administration and Organization, Physical Education Activities: Advanced Course (i.e., health, track and swimming). He also coached cross country, track and field, wrestling and fencing Kinsey's teams won 18 Ohio Athletic Conference titles. Although he was initially recruited to replace track coach Albert E. Lumley, by 1935 Kinsey also took on extra duties as assistant swimming coach, assuming the head swimming position a year later.

A highly regarded coach and professor who believed in the "student-athlete" concept, Kinsey served as the Director of Intramural Sports from 1954-58. In addition to his fine coaching record, Kinsey published articles on swimming and track for the Athletic Journal, as well as presented numerous talks on sports subjects to a variety of audiences. Associate Professor Kinsey had also given much to community service.

By way of illustration, Kinsey was the first chairman of the Oberlin Recreation Committee; a division chairman for the Oberlin Community Chest; and, a trustee of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association. He was active in Boy Scout work as well. Earlier in his career he was the secretary of the American Olympians (1932-36). Kinsey was also elected President of the NCAA Cross Country Association.

Kinsey, who became a Quaker after World War II, helped to found the first Quaker meetinghouse in Oberlin. He spent many summers at American Friends Service Committee work camps. His devotion to Quakerism led him to accept an appointment at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, in 1961.

Upon his resignation from Oberlin in 1959 to become professor and director of health, physical education and recreation at Earlham College, Kinsey received a year's leave of absence in order to observe Earlham's "Quaker experiment in higher education." After witnessing this educational style, he accepted their job offer. At Earlham, he coached the track and cross country teams to an undefeated season in 1960. Unfortunately, his philosophy of athletics came in conflict with many of his colleagues' beliefs. He felt athletics were for the athlete not the spectator. Thus, he did not recruit players simply because of their athletic ability. Owing to these differences in philosophy, Kinsey left Earlham to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, which he received in 1961. He became a professor and chairman of physical education and recreation at Delta College, Bay City, Michigan. He held this post until 1968. He then returned to Richmond, Indiana and served half-time as the Recreation Director at Earlham. In 1970, he finally retired.

On June 27, 1970, Daniel Kinsey died at home in Richmond, Indiana. His wife, Dorothy Gross, died three years later. Sons, David and Douglas, and a daughter, Mrs. Dea Jean Andrews, survived their parents.

Posthumously, Kinsey was inducted into the hall of fame of the Ohio Association of Cross Country and Track (1981) and Oberlin College's Heisman Club (1991).

Author: Lisa S. Hicks

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Administrative Information

Scope and Contents:

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).

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