Note 255 — Chapter XXIII · PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

The gift of a new gymnasium to Amherst College in 1884, by C. M. Pratt of the class of ’79, brought new and much-needed facilities, to which important additions have been made during more recent years; but the unique contribution of the College, and of Dr. Hitchcock, himself, to the advancement of physical training in America was made in the two decades which succeeded the trustee meeting of August, 1859. Dr. Hitchcock was chairman of the meeting in Brooklyn at which the American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education was organized (November 27, 1885). He was also its first president, a member of the committee on statistics and measurements, and a frequent contributor to the early programs.