A portrait photograph of Ethel Perrin. Ethel Perrin was born in Needham, MA, on February 7, 1871. Perrin was a physical education specialist who believed that women's health was weakened by strenuous sports, which should then be modified to suit women's physical and social limitations. She taught at Boston Normal School of Gymnastics (1892–1906); was the girls' physical education director at Central High School in Detroit (1908); became supervisor of physical education for Detroit Public Schools (1909); co-developed the state of Michigan Course of Study in Physical Education, which became model for public school physical education programs across US (1914); was appointed 1st female vice president of American Physical Education Association (1920); served as assistant director of health education in Detroit (1920–23); became executive officer of National Amateur Athletic Federation (1923); served as associate director of Health Education Division of American Child Health Association (1923–36). She was the second woman to receive the Luther Halsey Gulick Award for distinguished service in physical education (1946).
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