Letter from Dr. James McCurdy to Franklin Gray (September 18, 1925)
In: Student Files;
This is a letter from Dr. James McCurdy, a faculty member of Springfield College (then Known as International YMCA College), to Franklin Gray, an alumnus of the College who was working in the School Department (September 18, 1925). In the letter, Dr. McCurdy tries to connect Mr. Gray with John Ma (Ma Yuehan; 马约翰) in order to help John Ma work on his project of "the transfer value of athletics". ; John Ma (Ma Yuehan; 马约翰) (1883-1966) was a pioneer in physical education and modern Chinese sports. He graduated with his BA from St. John's University in 1911 and, three years later, began teaching physical education at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. In 1919, Ma traveled to the United States to earn his BA from Springfield College. He returned to China after graduating the following year and was promoted to director of physical education, a position he held for the next nine years. In 1926, he went on furlough and returned to Springfield College to earn his master's degree. From 1931 to 1932, Ma was the physical education director at Soochow University, and in 1934 he returned to his old position at Tsinghua College. In 1936, Ma coached the Chinese sports delegation at the 11th Olympic Games. In 1945, he became president of Tsinghua University. Ma taught physical education at Tsinghua University for fifty-two years and once coached their soccer team to victory in the North China Championship. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was elected the chairman of the All China Athletic Federation. Under the Wade-Giles romanization system, popular through most of the 20th century, John's surname was spelled "Mo" (as seen in this document). The system was designed by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century and completed with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English Dictionary in 1892. However, since 1982 Hanyu Pinyin has been the international standard, and under this system his surname is spelled "Ma." 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.