Miscellaneous and Unidentified Photographs, ca. 1890-1903, undated

Consisting of both the personal and professional papers generated and gathered in the course of his life, the Fred Eugene collection documents the life of a man raised in the American West with a strong appreciation for natural history and biology. He subsequently traded in these interests for a career in physical education. The papers reflect his education in the West, at Oberlin College, and at The College of Physicians and Surgeons. Leonard used his education, particularly his medical degree to provide legitimacy for the burgeoning physical education movement in American colleges and universities. The voluminous research files--compiled while working on the history of physical education--chronicle the development of physical education and ultimately foretell Leonard's role as an innovator and renown expert on the history and theory of physical education. The collection is organized around eight record series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Diaries and Chronology; 3. Education and Training Records; 4. Instructional and Teaching Material; 5. Professional Associations; 6. Writings and Research Material; 7. Miscellany and Ephemera; and 8. Photographs.

Both personal and professional correspondence is included in Series 1. The bulk of the correspondence is incoming, although Leonard's correspondence with his wife consists of outgoing letters. Other members of his family are represented including his maternal grandfather, both parents, and his siblings. His professional correspondence is interspersed with the names of giants in the field of physical education, including Dudley Allen Sargent (1849-1924), Thomas D. Wood (1865-1951, A.B. 1888), Luther Halsey Gulick (1868-1918, Academy 1880-86, and brother of Mrs. Frank Fanning Jewett), and Nils Posse (1862-1905). A portion of his professional correspondence consists of replies to biographical queries sent to these men.

A rich picture of the man appears through his numerous diaries and journals in which are meticulously recorded all dates and events in his life. A chronological index describes where he was during any given year. The chronology is fleshed out by his diary entries which chronicle his training, travel and study. Some genealogical information regarding his parentage is included within his chronology. The thirty diaries span from his days in Utah up to his death in 1922.

A portrait of Leonard's education and career preparation emerges through his student compositions and lecture notes. His early years are outlined in records of the Agassiz Association he helped form, and records of his preparatory work at the Salt Lake Academy in Utah, and his early teaching positions in Park City, Utah, and Oxford, Idaho. His student compositions belie his interests in history and botany, and demonstrate his sharp intellect, evident at an early age. The richest records are his lecture notes, taken at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. These notes, complete with his illustrations, offer tremendous insight into the nature of medical science in 1890. Lecture notes from work taken under Nils Posse suggests the influence that this work had on his later career.

Instructional and teaching records document his pedagogical methodology at Oberlin College, where he began instruction while still a student in the late 1880s. Included are account books and attendance records, which record all the names of his pupils as well as indicating what exercises were completed and attempted. Anthropometric study guides and records underscore the predominant mindset of the time toward physical education and fitness. An extensive collection of catalogs and bulletins from other colleges serves to illustrate the pioneering role taken by Oberlin College in regard to peer institutions. Leonard's lecture notes contain a mixture of historic material, including magazine articles and booklets, as well as his handwritten notes and occasional outlines. Lecture topics include such subjects as "air," "nutrition," "hygiene," and "communicable diseases." Lantern slides of gymnasiums, equipments, and pioneers in the field used to accompany his lectures and presentations are also included among his teaching files.

Related to his teaching files are his records from professional associations. The majority of the professional associations pertain to physical education, although associations such as the National Education Association can be found here as well. The most interesting records are found in the files of the Ohio Physical Education Association, a body which he help to create in 1895.

Quantity-wise, the bulk of the collection is comprised of his research files used to produce his frequent articles and publications. The research files are centered around his two major publications, Pioneers of Modern Physical Education (1915), and Guide to the History of Physical Education (1923). Approximating the table of contents of each work, these files document the thorough method in which Leonard conducted research. His voluminous handwritten notes attest to wide exposure to physical education literature in multiple languages. Included among his notes are many original source materials such as early catalogs and articles from medical journals and popular periodicals of the day. Several of his published articles as well as a proof of his Guide precede his research files. Also included are some of the illustrations used in his publications.

The remainder of the collection consists of photographs and miscellany which documents Leonard's numerous interests. Included are photographs and records of his camping trips (his diary for the corresponding period should be cross referenced), maps, and drawings which indicate a fair degree of artistic ability.