Panzer College - Olympia Yearbook (East Orange, NJ)

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PANZER COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HYGIENE Alumni Gates

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f The Class of 1943 of Panzer College 0 Physical Education and Hygiene Presents the OL YMPI A, ' U«L--i ■U-vUL

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History of the College Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene was founded in Sep- tember, 1917, while this nation was engaged in the first World War. From data collected by the selective service at that time, it was discovered that thirty-three per cent of the men called for national service were physically unfit. As a result, physical education was made compulsory in the public schools of the nation by state legislatures. In New Jersey, the Pierson Act stipulated that, There shall be established and made a part of the course of instruction in the public schools of the State what shall be known as ' A Course in Physical Training ' . This act became school law, but there were no institutions in the State for the preparation of teachers of physical training and hygiene . Therefore, in the fall of 1917, a group of interested men and women established the Newark Normal School of Physical Education and Hygiene in the City of Newark. Randall D. Warden and Matthias H. Macherey, Supervisors of Physical Educa- tion in the Newark Public Schools, were elected President and Vice-President respectively, of the newly founded institution. The normal school offered a two-year course in physical education and hygiene to prepare both men and women teachers. Mr. Warden and Mr. Macherey relinquished their connections with the school in 1918, and Henry Panzer was appointed President. Property was purchased in East Orange and a new building erected in 1926. Immediately after the change in location, the school was reorganzied and became a teachers ' college. In December, 1928, the State Board of Education of New Jersey approved the four-year curriculum and authorized the college to grant the degree of Bachelor of Physical Education. The name of the institution was changed by the Board of Trustees to Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene in honor of its President, Henry Panzer, who died in October, 1932. As his successor the Trustees elected Dr. Margaret C. Brown, who had been Dean and Registrar of the College since 1921. In 1938, the State Board of Education gave Pan zer College the authority to confer a degree of Bachelor of Science in Education. The year 1945, the twenty-eighth anniversary of Panzer College, found our nation engaged in World War II. The faculty and student body were reduced considerably due to selective service while the accelerated program attempted to increase the immediate need for teachers throughout the nation. However, in spite of the difficult changes and adjustments to be made, our college continued its excellent work in educating teachers and the extracurricular program was maintained and even increased. Our students and alumni are on the march . . . and soon they will be coming home. Panzer College will have its doors and its heart wide open to the future educators of this nation.