Elwood Brown Explained

Elwood Brown
Birth Date:9 April 1883
Birth Place:Cherokee, Iowa, U.S.
Death Place:Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Coach Years1:1903–1906
Coach Team1:Wheaton (IL)
Coach Years2:1905–1906
Coach Team2:Illinois
Overall Record:33–30–1

Elwood Stanley Brown (April 9, 1883 – March 24, 1924) was an American sports administrator, and basketball coach. As a leader in the YMCA, he promoted sports in the Philippines, helped establish the Far Eastern Games, and began the first Boy Scout troops in the Philippines. He also helped organize the American Expeditionary Forces Games and the Inter-Allied Games. Brown worked closely with Pierre de Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee in propagating the Olympic Games through the YMCA.

Involvement in sports

Involvement in Scouting

Later life

Brown died of complications from a heart attack on March 24, 1924, at age 40.[17]

Bibliography

Contains full text of Roosevelt letter to James West – received by the BSP National Office from the BSA.

Contains details of Brown's work with the International Olympic Committee and some details about the Inter-Allied Games.

England arrived in the Philippines after Elwood Brown requested the government for a playground supervisor. England became Manila school's superintendent and Manila playground director. He was appointed as the first Philippine physical director in 1922, and was later succeeded by Regino Ylanan. England authored Physical Education: A Manual for Teachers, published by the Bureau of Education and Bureau of Printing, Manila.

Contains a detailed narrative of Brown and the YMCA's extensive work in propagating sports among Filipinos through the Philippine educational system and his massive influence in international sports competition in Asia.

Contains numerous references to Brown, his coordination with Baron de Coubertin, the Inter-Allied Games, and Brown's organizing work in South America.

Regino Ylanan won medals at the 1913 and 1915 Far Eastern Championship Games, had trained at the International YMCA College, served as PAAF Secretary, succeeded Frederick England as Philippine physical director in 1927, and became board member of the Boy Scouts of America Philippine Islands Council No. 545 in 1928.

Contains detailed narratives of Brown's work in the Philippines and East Asia, and photographs of Brown.

Notes and References

  1. George Wolf Ehler (1865–1947): Professor of physical education and Director of Athletics, University of Wisconsin. Chicago YMCA Physical Director, 1892–1904. Held various volunteer and professional positions in the Boy Scouts of America, 1910–1940, retiring as assistant to Chief Scout Executive James Edward West. Recipient, Silver Beaver, BSA. (Cf: The New York Times, February 16, 1947.) Authored Exercises Upon the Horse, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar (Chicago: YMCA, 1898).
  2. Buchanan, 1998.
  3. Brown, Elwood, "Annual Report," 1 Oct 1912–1 Oct 1913, YMCAA.
  4. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19340501-1.2.95.aspx "FAR EASTERN OLYMPIC OPENS THIS MONTH AT MANILA"
  5. http://www.aafla.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1926/BODE3/BODE3i.pdf England, Frederick, "History of the Far Eastern Athletic Association"
  6. Brown, Elwood, "Annual Report," 1 Oct 1914–1 Oct 1915, YMCAA.
  7. Keyes. Mary Eleanor. John Howard Crocker LL. D., 1870–1959. University of Western Ontario. October 1964. London, Ontario. 61578234. 52.
  8. News: Disappearance of German Merchantmen a Sore Blow. Jones. Gordon R.. October 29, 1914. Brantford Expositor. Brantford, Ontario. 10. May 28, 2023. April 21, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230421164729/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brantford-weekly-expositor-crocker-1/123001318/. live.
  9. Gems, Gerald, "Sport, Colonialism, and United States Imperialism" in Journal of Sport History, North American Society for Sport History, Spring 2006
  10. Turner, Everett Stanton, Nation Building, Manila: YMCA, 1965. Digitised 2006, University of Michigan.
  11. "Among the notable works and contributions of the YMCA in the Philippines were the organization of the first training class for schools in physical education; establishment of the first law school in English, now the College of Law of the University of the Philippines; conduct of the first Far Eastern Athletic Meet, the precursor of the Asian Games; organization of the first chartered Boy Scouts troop for Filipino boys; conduct of the first student conferences and first Rural Development Youth Work Camps; organization of the first National Fund Campaigns; and, establishment of the first gymnasia and swimming pools for Filipinos." –"History of YMCA International Work in the Philippines" at YMCA International Work in the Philippines: an inventory of its records, Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
  12. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924014114353/cu31924014114353_djvu.txt The Inter-Allied Games. Paris 22nd June to 6th July 1919
  13. The Boy Scouts of America magazine Boys' Life, Vol. LX, No. 8, August 1970, page 36, reports: "It was also the Americans who brought the Boy Scout movement to the Philippines in the same year – 1910 – that the Boy Scouts of America came into existence."
  14. While the Scout Association of Japan recognizes Clarence Griffin (1873–1951) as Japan's first Scoutmaster and his 1st Yokohama Troop as Japan's first recognized Scout unit, no such richly deserved recognition is given to Elwood Stanley Brown and his three YMCA troops by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.
  15. Unfortunately, the Miami News / Miami Metropolis archival site, formerly here, was removed or closed in 2015. Hence citation of this article can no longer be accessed online.
  16. See Early History of Scouting in the Philippines
  17. Buchanan . Ian . Elwood S. Brown: Missionary Extraordinary . Journal of Olympic History . Fall 1998 . 12-13.