In the early years at Iowa State, the only organized physical activity for women had been the Ladies Militia.  This group was started because of student interest: G (for Girls) Company was established in 1878; a second company, L (for Ladies) Company was added in 1891.  The battalion was disbanded in 1897.

In 1899, the Department of Elocution and Oratory began offering a course for sophomore women in "Aesthetic Culture."  This consisted of "a series of lectures on the different phases of Aesthetics, physical drills, looking toward the best development of the body, for both health and expression."  (General Catalog, 1900).  It seems odd today that physical education would be part of what we think of as speech instruction.  However, at the turn of the century, gesture and physical control were considered an integral part of public speaking.  Part of the Elocution course description from the 1900 Catalog conveys this:  "The oration...carefully written and criticised, carefully drilled and rehearsed, gives a practice in thought and bodily control not to be found in any other line of work."

Aesthetic (changed to Physical in 1902) Culture for Women remained part of Elocution until 1915, when it was transferred to the Division of Home Economics.  Ercel Eppright and Elizabeth Storms Ferguson, in A Century of Home Economics at Iowa State University, suggest that the move was made because 80% of women students were enrolled in the Home Economics Division and also because Margaret Hall, which housed the Physical Education facilities was identified with Home economics.  Both a food and a sewing lab were located in the building.

Athletic training was separated by gender through the departments of Physical Training for Men (1913,) administered through the Division of industrial Science, and the Department of Physical Culture for Women (1915) administered through the Division of Home Economics. The two departments merged in 1974, into a Department of Physical Education and placed within the College of Education. In 1993, the department became Health and Human Performance. In 2005, the department became part of the College of Human Sciences.

An undergraduate program for men was approved in 1960 and for women in 1960. After the merger, the degree became the B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science, with options in exercise science, teaching, athletic training, sport management, or exercise and sport studies. A B.S. in Community Health Education was added later, and later the two B.S. were combined to form the B.S. in Health and Human Performance, with options in Athletic Training, Community and Public Health, Exercise and Sport Science, Health/Fitness Management, Physical Education (licensure program), and Sport Management.

An M.S. in Physical Education was approved in the 1970's, and a Ph.D. and an M.Ed. program were added (1999); these additions forced the M.S. program to be limited to a thesis-only option. These three programs have options in either the Behavioral Basis of Physical Activity (physical activity and health or sport management,) or the Biological Basis of Physical Activity (analysis and control of movement or exercise physiology).

The Physical Education Curriculum Committee maintained the Physical Education and Leisure Studies curriculum and course catalogues, including the critical the transition from a quarter to a semester system.

This collection (1972-1987) contains the planning for new curricula and the preparation for new catalogues. Also included in this collection are curriculum requirement sheets, graduate program reports, and proposals for a new community health education program.

This collection is arranged chronologically.