Flora Frick

Flora Frick
A young white woman with dark hair, wearing loose-fitting clothing
Flora M. Frick, from a 1920 publication
Born
Flora Margaret Frick

March 13, 1889
Indianapolis, Indiana
DiedApril 1957
Moorhead, Minnesota
Occupation(s)Physical educator, college professor, playwright

Flora Margaret Frick (March 13, 1889 – April 1957) was an American physical educator, playwright, and college professor. She was chair of the women's physical education department at Moorhead State Teachers College for 38 years, from 1919 to her death in 1957. A building on the campus is named Flora Frick Hall in her memory.

Early life and education

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Frick was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of Philip J. Frick and Bertha Wachstetter Frick.[1] She graduated from Butler College in 1911,[2][3] and earned a master's degree at Northwestern University. She also attended the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University.[4][5]

Career

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Frick taught drama and physical education in the Indianapolis public schools as a young woman.[4] She began teaching physical education and German classes at Moorhead State Teachers College (now Minnesota State University Moorhead) in 1919.[6] She chaired the women's physical education department for 38 years and is credited as naming the school's teams "the Dragons" after a 1930 fire on campus.[7][8] She and Jessie McKellar were the physical education department's core faculty for four decades.[9]

Frick also wrote and directed plays and pageants,[10] including five pageants for the Illinois centennial.[4] She was a Camp Fire Girls leader.[11] She was chair of the First Aid Program of the American Red Cross chapter in Clay County for 25 years.[6]

Publications

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  • Stunts for Winter (seasonal plays)
  • Stunts for Fall (seasonal plays)
  • Stunts for Summer (season plays)
  • "Pageantry in Rural Communities" (1920)
  • "Children's Right to a Playground" (1920)[12]
  • "Lest We Forget: A Pageant for the Pilgrims Tercentenary" (1920)[13]
  • Christmas Windows (1928, one-act play, with Mayme Christensen)[14][15]

Personal life and legacy

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Frick's widowed father lived with her before his death in 1943.[16] She died in 1957, at the age of 68, in Moorhead, Minnesota.[5] In 1962, the women's physical education building at Minnesota State was named Flora Frick Hall;[17] the name remains as of 2023, but the building's pool and gymnasium have since been converted to other purposes.[18] Frick was posthumously inducted into the MSU Moorhead Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Rites for Auto Victim". The Indianapolis News. 1930-09-29. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Graduates Who Will Receive Diplomas at Butler College Next Week". The Indianapolis Star. 1911-06-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Miss Flora Frick Wins Butler Alumni Honor". The Indianapolis Star. 1941-02-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Lest We Forget: A Celebration of the Tercentenary of the Landing of the Pilgrims". The National School Digest. 40: 23–25. September 1920.
  5. ^ a b "Minnesota Rites for Flora Frick". The Indianapolis News. 1957-04-17. p. 32. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Flora Frick (1983) - Hall of Fame". MSU Moorhead Athletics. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  7. ^ "Women Leave a Lasting Mark on Campus". Minnesota State University Moorhead. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  8. ^ Sloan, C. Joanne (1993). College nicknames and other interesting sports traditions. Internet Archive. Northport, AL : Vision Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-9630700-3-6.
  9. ^ Glasrud, Clarence A. (1987). The Moorhead Normal School. Internet Archive. p. 154.
  10. ^ "Parke County in 1924". Indiana Magazine of History. 20 (4): 465. December 1924.
  11. ^ "Camp Fire Leaders to Train Here; National Field Staff to Direct Week's Course". The Minneapolis Star. 1930-06-11. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Frick, Flora M. (September 1920). "Children's Right to a Playground". The National School Digest. 40: 14–17.
  13. ^ Frick, Flora M. (October 1920). "Lest We Forget: A Pageant for the Pilgrims Tercentenary". The National School Digest. 40: 93–94.
  14. ^ "Christmas Festivals, Masques and Pantomimes". Recreation. 32 (9): 498. December 1938.
  15. ^ "Playhouse Production". The Morning Call. 1980-12-11. p. 130. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Obituary for Philip J . Frick". The Indianapolis News. 1943-03-01. p. 27. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Names Make News". The Minneapolis Star. 1962-11-19. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "MSUM rumors, stories exposed". MSUM Advocate. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2023-06-30.