Barbara Calmer Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-290

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of Barbara Calmer primarily document Calmer’s career as Associate Professor of Physical Education at Oberlin College. The instructional file series (Series 2) contains materials from the courses taught by Calmer (i.e. syllabi and reading lists) and reference materials concerning physical education issues such as dance, golf, and gymnastics. Notes from physical education workshops attended by Calmer can be found in this series. The files related to the Oberlin College Physical Education Department concern committee work on individual majors and the policies and procedures for the Department. Of particular interest is a file concerning the Oberlin Board of Women Officials that documents the process of selecting officials and organizing events for girls and women’s sports. A journal used to record the acquisition of book titles concerning physical education issues is included in the department files. Series four contains student papers, requests for letters of recommendation from Calmer’s former students, and a file concerning a misconduct case between James Jeanpierre (a student) and Thomas LeDuc (professor of history).

Except for the student papers, the files in series four are restricted. The collections contains some biographical information, but, in general, it lacks documentation concerning the personal life of Barbara Calmer.

Dates

Creation: 1942-1982, undated
Other: Date acquired: 1996 December 12

Creator

Calmer, Barbara (Calmer, Barbara Jean) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Recommendations in Series IV are restricted. A self-evaluation in Series I is also restricted.

Biographical Sketch

Barbara Jean Calmer (1923-1996), Associate Professor of Physical Education at Oberlin College, was born on August 30, 1923 in Sioux City, Iowa, to Edward Emanuel (1885-1960) and Bessie Venice Miller Calmer (1889-1975). She had one brother, Donald Edward (1918-2012). She received a BSc degree from the University of Nebraska in 1945 and an MA degree from New York University in 1950. Prior to joining the Oberlin faculty in 1950, she worked as an Instructor of Physical education at Alabama State College for Women (1945-46) and Lake Forest College (1946-50). She retired in 1988. Calmer’s fields of interest included folk and square dancing, outdoor education, and elementary physical education and teacher training.

Calmer took two sabbatical leaves during her 38 years (1950-88) at Oberlin. On the first (1956-57), she traveled to Sweden and England to study with the Scandinavian Seminar for Cultural Studies and the English Folk Dance and Song Society. While there, she observed classes in movement education in the primary schools and taught at the Lillsved Gymnastik Follchogskola. She also worked with children with disabilities at the Lucy Idol School in Vermilion, Ohio, before returning to Oberlin. On her second sabbatical leave (1963-64), she studied with Dr. Gladys Andrews, an expert on children’s rhythms and movements at New York University.

In addition to working at Oberlin, Calmer was a member of several different organizations. These organizations included the American Association of Heath, Physical Education and Recreation, AAUP, National and Mid-West Association for Physical Education of College Women, and the National Volleyball Rules Guide Committee for the Division of Girls’ and Women’s Sports. She served as chairman of the Teacher Education Section of the Ohio Association for physical Education of College Women, as an honorary national official in basketball for girls, and as a state coordinator of all Ohio Rating Records. In 1991, the Lorain County United Way honored Calmer for her volunteer work with the Lucy Idol Center for the Handicapped, where she designed and managed a swimming program for clients. Barbara Calmer died in Oberlin, Ohio on 1 November 1996.

SOURCES CONSULTED

The faculty file of Barbara Calmer (RG28) and The Papers of Barbara Calmer (RG30/290).

Note written by Megan Thompson and Kenneth M. Grossi.

Extent

0.80 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The papers of Barbara Calmer were transferred to the Oberlin College Archives from the Oberlin College Library on 12 December 1996. The collection was received from Linda Slocum and assigned accession number 1996/135.