Harriet Maxwell Brown
Harriet Maxwell Brown, a member of the Skidmore faculty for 32 years, died at the age of 94 in Exeter, N.H., during the early winter of 1991.
Harriet began at Skidmore in 1926 as an assistant professor of health and physical education. She held B.S. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University’s Teaching College. She retired in 1958, as a professor of physical education and chair of the department. Under her leadership, Skidmore’s PE department was considered progressive in its outlook and receptive to new ideas, trends, and advancements in the field. During her early years at the college, she chaired a committee that published “for the first time in the history of American sports” (according to the news release) a booklet on snow and ice sporting activities that contained ice-hockey rules for women. (It was, however, more than 30 years later before women gained support for ice-hockey teams at the intercollegiate level.)
Involvement in professional organizations that promoted better programs for young women and their teachers was equally important to Harriet. She was one of the early leaders of the Association for Women in Physical Education New York State, which was founded in 1947. She was president of AWPENYS while she taught at Skidmore, and she was awarded an honorary membership in 1970.
Camp Mesacosa on Efner Lake in Corinth, N.Y., was owned and operated by Harriet and a colleague during the summer months. Young girls from as far away as Washington, D.C., came to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and unplanned days, an atypical regimen for camps at that time.
Nephew John Loos of Newfield’s, N.H., survives her.