Transcription of a letter from James Huff McCurdy to Laurence L. Doggett (November 1, 1917)

A two-page transcription of a letter from James Huff McCurdy to Laurence L. Doggett dated November 1, 1917. In the Letter McCurdy tells Doggett that he will try to answer Doggett's questions but he needs some information sent to him to help him find the answers. He also talks about some of the people he is working with in France. For the original of this letter, see rg104-01-a-01-04d-004.James Huff McCurdy, M.D. (1866-1940) graduated in 1890 from the YMCA Training School, now known as Springfield College. In 1895, Dr. James H. McCurdy returned to the school as an instructor. He contributed to the field of physical education in many ways, including his studies on the relationship between heart rate, blood pressure, and motor tasks in adolescent boys. In 1924, he published one of the first texts for Exercise Physiology. In 1918, James H. McCurdy realized the need “for an extensive programme of sports and recreation in the immediate postwar period that would bridge the gap and ease the transition between military service and civilian life.” The result was the Inter-Allied Games, the biggest international sports event that had ever been held at that time. Attended by 25,000 people, the Games were a huge success. Dr. McCurdy was the Director of the Division of Athletes, Hygiene and Health for the American YMCA among American troops in France. Peter V. Karpovich (1896-1975) was born in Russia and trained as a medical doctor at the State Military Academy of Medicine in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), Russia in 1919. Under increasing political and professional turmoil, he fled to Latvia in 1922. In Latvia, Karpovich worked at the Riga YMCA. In 1925, he traveled to the United States for an opportunity to conduct research at Springfield College. While there, he enrolled at the college as a special advanced student and earned a master’s degree in physical education. In 1927, while completing his studies, he became a professor of physiology at the college. In the late 1940s, he met and married his second wife, Josephine Rathbone, an acclaimed scholar of physical education and relaxation. From 1961 to 1969, he served as the director of the physiology research laboratory at Springfield College, where he published several seminal books. Karpovich was a founding member of the American College of Sports Medicine and a consultant to many government, private and educational organizations. He was and remains an internationally recognized pioneer in physical education