Margaret Katherine Majer was an American Instructor of physical education for women and first coach of women"s teams at Pennsylvania
Background
Margaret Katherine Majer was born on 13 December 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of German immigrants, Carl Majer (1863-1922) and Margaretha Berg (1870-1949). Margaret and her two siblings grew up in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city.
Career
Margaret, an outstanding athlete, excelled in intercollegiate swimming as an undergraduate at Temple University. Her beauty brought her jobs as a model and cover girl. After earning her Bachelor of Arts from Temple University in 1921, Margaret succeeded Ethel Loring as Instructor in Physical Education for Women at the University of Pennsylvania"s College for Women.
She led the undergraduate women in athletic pursuits at the Kingsessing facility used as a gymnasium by Penn"s female students.
While teaching at Penn, Majer became the first coach of women"s athletic teams at the University, organizing and training a women"s basketball team and scheduling the first intercollegiate competitions for women. The women"s basketball team played eight opponents in its first year, including Bryn Mawr College, Drexel University, and Temple University.
Teams in gymnastics, softball, swimming, and tennis were planned for the next year. Margaret also led a successful fundraising campaign to build women"s tennis Margaret Majer, standing at the far right, as coach of 1924 woman"s field hockey team at Pennsylvania
Photograph from 1924 women"s yearbook.courts on what, for a few years, was a vacant lot on the southeast corner of Thirty-Fourth and Walnut Streets.
In 1935 she began a long association with Woman"s Medical College of Pennsylvania, serving on its Women"s Auxiliary and Board of Corporators before chairing the Development Program and then receiving an honorary Doctor of Letters from the school. In recognition of her contributions, the Woman"s Medical College named a section of the hospital for her. Margaret Majer Kelly died January 6, 1990 in Linwood, New Jersey.
Membership
She also served as a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education from 1961 to 1964 and as a leader of volunteer boards and groups associated with the Philadelphia Association for Retarded Children, Moss Rehabilitation Hospital and the Committee for Philadelphia House.