Luther Halsey Gulick was born on December 4, 1865 in Honolulu, Hawaii; his parents, Luther Halsey Gulick and Louisa Lewis, were both missionaries. He entered the preparatory department of Oberlin College in 1880, but illness forced him to leave before he had completed his studies. In 1885 he became a student in the Sargent School of Physical Training in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the following year Gulick entered the Medical College of the University of the City of New York, receiving a medical degree in 1889. He was married on August 30, 1887 to Charlotte Vetter of Hanover, New Hampshire.

In 1887 Gulick came to the School for Christian Workers (which became the YMCA Training School in 1890 and the International YMCA Training School in 1891 and is now Springfield College). That same year, he and Robert J. Roberts established the School’s Gymnasium Department, which became the Physical Department in 1889. During his time at the School, Gulick instructed such courses as “Anatomy,” “Physiology,” “Hygiene,” “Physical Diagnosis,” “Prescription of Exercise,” “Association Work and Athletics,” “Outdoor Sports,” “Psychology,” “History and Philosophy of Physical Exercise,” “Anthropometry,” “Physiology of Exercise,” and “Gymnastics and Athletics.” Gulick served as the Director and then Superintendent of the Physical Department until he left the School in 1900. Gulick also organized the Department’s earliest summer sessions and correspondence courses.

In February 1891, students and instructors in the Physical Department—including J. Naismith, A.A. Stagg, W.H. Ball, W.O. Black, and W.E. Ninde—established the School’s publication “The Triangle.” Gulick supervised this enterprise, and he was also heavily involved with the Triangle Publishing Company during his time in Springfield. The publishing company seems to have developed out of the publication of the “Triangle” journal, being first credited as publishing the journal in June 1891 (the first publisher was simply given as the Physical Department). Gulick was elected president of this new company, James Naismith was the editor, and Frank N. Seerley was the first business manager. In addition to producing “The Triangle” (which became “Physical Education” in March of 1892), the company published a few of its own books and pamphlets related to physical education during the 1890s, including the earliest publications of the rules for Basketball. Letters and receipts within the collection show that the company also distributed YMCA triangle pins, fitness equipment manufactured by other businesses, and books published by other companies.

Gulick was principal of the Pratt Institute High School, Brooklyn, New York, from 1900-1903. He then went on to serve as director of physical training in the public schools of New York City for three years. In 1907 Gulick organized the child hygiene department of the Russell Sage Foundation and served as director until 1913, when failing health compelled him to resign.

Gulick and his wife Charlotte founded the Camp Fire Girls—the first nonsectarian organization for girls in the United States—in 1910. The organization was incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1912 as a national agency. Today it is known as Camp Fire USA and holds programs for both girls and boys.

Gulick also designed the inverted, equilateral triangle emblem—denoting spirit, mind, and body—which became the official seal of Springfield College in 1891 and soon after became the seal of the YMCA. In December of 1891, one of Gulick’s students and colleagues, James Naismith, created the game of basketball, after Gulick directed him to create a new game to help deal with an uncooperative class at Springfield College.

Gulick was also involved with many other organizations throughout his career, including the Amateur Athletic Union, the Athletic League of YMCAs of North America, the American Academy of Physical Education which he helped found with R. Tait McKenzie and James McCrudy among others and today is known as the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, the Playground Association of America which later became the National Recreation Association, the American School Hygiene Association, and the Young Men’s Christian Association’s Physical Department and International Committee.

The last five years of his life were devoted to writing and lecturing on physical education, hygiene, and dancing. Gulick was a prolific writer and speaker and frequently sought new and better ways to educate people about physical education, play, hygiene and health, gender roles, camping, folk dancing, and amateur athletics. Despite his own failing health, Gulick accepted an offer from the National War Council in the Fall of 1917 to go to France and make a survey of the rapidly growing work of the YMCA with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. On his return, Gulick presented his report and recommendations to the War Council, and then he began writing his book The Dynamic of Manhood. Gulick died the following year on August 13, 1918.

Reference materials used:

Dorgan, Ethel Josephine. Luther Halsey Gulick, 1865-1918. New York: Columbia University Teachers College, 1934.

"Luther Halsey Gulick." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006. https://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

1865

Born, Honolulu, Hawaii

1887

Married Charlotte Vetter

1887-1900

Physical Department, International YMCA Training School, Springfield, Mass.

1887-1903

Secretary of physical training for the International Committee of the YMCA

1891-1896

Editor, “Physical Education”

1892-1893

Secretary, American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education

1897-1900

Editor, “Association Outlook”

1900-1903

Principal of the Pratt Institute High School, Brooklyn, New York

1901-1903

Editor, “American Physical Education Review”

1903-1906

President, American Physical Education Association

Director, Physical Training, public schools of New York City

1904

Chairman, Physical Training Lecture Committee of the St. Louis Exposition

1905-1908

President, Public Schools Physical Training Society

1905-1909

Lecturer, School of Pedagogy, New York University

1906

Member, American Olympic Games Committee, Athens

1906-1909

President, Playground Association of America

1907

Delegate, Second International Congress on School Hygiene, London

Organizing Secretary, American School Hygiene Association

1907-1913

Director, Child Hygiene Department, Russell Sage Foundation

1908

Member, American Olympic Games Committee, London

1910

Founded Camp Fire Girls

1918

Died in Maine