Fit for America: Major John L. Griffith and the Quest for Athletics and Fitness (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780815635697)

Fit for America is at once an intellectual biography of Major John L. Griffith, one of the preeminent intercollegiate athletics administrators of the twenti-eth century, and an in-depth look at how athletics shaped national military preparedness in a time of war and anticommunist sentiment.

Lindaman traces Griffith's forty-year career, one that spanned both world wars and included his appointment as the first Big Ten commissioner from 1922 until 1945. Griffith also served as NCAA president in the 1930s and later became the secretary-treasurer during World War II. Throughout his career, he worked tirelessly to advance the role and importance of collegiate sports on a regional and national level. In an era of heightened fears of com-munism, Griffith saw intercollegiate athletics as a way to prepare young men to become fit, disciplined military recruits. Griffith also founded his own publi-cation, the Athletic Journal, in 1922 in which he published opinion pieces and solicited the opinions of other leading coaches and administrators nationwide. Through these pages, Lindaman explores not only Griffith's philosophy but also the emergence of a coaching and athletic administration network. Draw-ing on voluminous primary source material and the many writings Griffith left behind, Fit for America brings long-overdue attention to a figure who was in-strumental in shaping the world of American intercollegiate sports.

Author: Matthew Lindaman
ISBN-10: 0815635699
ISBN-13: 9780815635697
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/21/2018
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.34lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.81d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2019