Luther Halsey Gulick Jr. (1865–1918) was an American physical education instructor, international basketball official, and founder with his wife of the Camp Fire Girls, an international youth organization now known as Camp Fire.
He designed a triangle logo—Spirit, Mind, & Body—representing the YMCA philosophy. This evolved into the block letter "Y" used in the modern YMCA logo, as well as the Springfield College seal.[4]
Gulick persuaded a young instructor named James Naismith, a teacher at the school, to create an indoor game that could be played during the off-season. In response, Naismith invented and popularized basketball. Gulick worked with Naismith to spread the sport, chairing the Basketball Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union (1895–1905) and representing the United States Olympic Committee during the 1908 Olympic Games. For his efforts to increase the popularity of basketball and of physical fitness in general, Gulick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1959.
With his wife, Gulick founded the Camp Fire Girls to prepare women for work outside the home. In 1975, its name changed to Camp Fire USA as it accepted boys and girls[8] and in 2012 it was renamed Camp Fire. The Gulicks helped create and expand the Boy Scout movement, as both the Camp Fire Girls and Boy Scouts movements helped to promote physical fitness and expand exercise opportunities for youth.
Gulick recommending the secretary of the Playground Association, James E. West to head the new Boy Scouts of America.[9]
His older brother Sidney Gulick was a missionary to Japan. Sidney's son (Luther Gulick Jr.'s nephew), also named Luther Halsey Gulick, was an expert on public administration.
His sister, Frances Gulick Jewett, wrote a series of books on public health and hygiene, which were regarded as the leading publications on public sanitation for many years, and biography of their father. His other siblings included Reverend Edward Leeds Gulick and Pierre Johnson Gulick.[12]
His sister's namesake, daughter Frances Jewett Gulick, was honored for her service in World War I.
Gulick died August 13, 1918, at his camp in Casco, Maine. He had just returned from France inspecting troops of the US forces in World War I.[5]
Gulick, together with his wife Charlotte, are honored with a bronze medallion on the Extra Mile National Monument.[citation needed]
Honorary Fellow in Memoriam, National Academy of Kinesiology[16]
Works
Besides editing Physical Education (1891-1896), Association Outlook (1897-1900), American Physical Education Review (1901-1903), and the Gulick Hygiene Series, he wrote:
^Betty L. Mann Jeffery L. Monseau (June 2009). "The College Seal"(PDF). Springfield College web site. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 28, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
^Edward L. Rowan (2005). To Do My Best: James E. West and the History of the Boy Scouts of America. Exeter, NH: Publishing Works, Inc. ISBN0-9746479-1-8.
^"Camp Timanous". Maine Youth Camping Foundation web site. October 14, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
^"What's Wohelo?". Wohelo Luther Gulick Camps web site. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
^Cardinal, Bradley J. (2022). "The National Academy of Kinesiology: Its founding, focus, and future". Kinesiology Review. 11 (1): 6–25. doi:10.1123/kr.2021-0064.