Letter from Springfield College to Stephen T. Duggan, December 22, 1925

Abstract

Letter from Springfield College to Stephen T. Duggan, December 22, 1925. The letter is asking Dr. Duggan if he would consider recommending Dr. Peter Karpovitch to the Rockefeller Foundation for financial assistance to help support his studies and his research at Springfield College. The letter is a copy and is not signed. ; 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 to research at Springfield College. While there, he enrolled 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 remains an internationally recognized pioneer in physical education.