ALICE HAMILTON BELDING
Alice Belding’s name still vividly recalls to those who knew
her an imaginative person full of energy, truly generous, and
with a contagious enthusiasm for all sports.
Born in Poughkeepsie in l886, Miss Belding received her A.B.
degree from Vassar in 1907 and her training in Physical Educa-
tion at the Sergent School the following year. In 1908, she
west to Rendolph-Macon College where she served as Professor
of Physical Education, Chairman of the Department, and also as
Counsellor of Women. In 1926, ste returned to Vassar as Pro-
fessor and Chairmen of the Department of Physical Education.
In 1937, she retired end spent her recent years at Wellfleet
on Cape Cod.
Miss Belding was largely responsible for the desiqn of Kenyon
Hall. During a semester's leave, she visited new gymnasiums
throughout the country; then worked with the Trustees and
architect to plan Kenyon to meet the needs not only of the
Department but also of recreational sports for students and
their guests, a new ides at that time. If not the first,
Kenyon was certainly one of the earliest of women's gymnasiums
to provide dressing rooms for men, and shoes and equipment for
their use. This was enough of an innovation for the New York
Herald Tribune to quote her: "In mixed recreation the college
again approximates the condition of society - - - men like women
who are in sympathy with their sports interests." Kenyon pro-
vided not only facilities for men, but also an opportunity for
Miss Belding to extend the departmental program to include more
of the individual sports which students could continue to enjoy
after college ~ bowling, squash, badminton. She started "Faculty
Eights" in Kenyon, end for many years had the faculty competing
in badminton for a Trophy she presented. As Secretory, Vice
President, and President of the Eastern Association of Physical
Education for Colleqe Women, she was able to extend her influence
beyond Vassar, and after her retirement elected to honorary mem-
bership in the Association.
Miss Belding's extracurricular activities, too, were not confined
to the campus. In Poughkeepsie in 1933, she organized a series
of lectures for the unemployed in cooperation with the Mayor’s
Committee; she was closely associated with Lincoln Center, giv-
ing full—time to this work during 1937-38; in Wellfleet, where
she directed a summer camp from 1913-1925, she later organized
a summer recreation program and was instrumental in establishing
“Wellfleet Associates” to develop better relations between the
townspeople and summer residents.
ALICE HAMILTON BELDING (Continued)
A popular teacher arousing interest in her field event among
the most nonathletic; an athlete whose baseball throw record
remained unbroken for many years; a friend and colleague shar-
ing her boundless energy and lively imagination; a citizen
continuously working to improve conditions and relations among
people, Alice Belding throughout her life gave generously of
herself to family, to student, to friend, to college, and to community.
Ruth Ellis
ELizabeth Richey
Mary Sague
Elizabeth Drouilhet