By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Just as George Huff is known as the "Father of Illini Athletics", so too should Ella Morrison, Jeanette Lincoln, Gertrude Moulton, Louise Freer and Laura Huelster be recognized as the "Mother" for their pioneering contributions on the women's side of sports at the University of Illinois.

Instruction in calisthenics was first offered to U of I women through the School of Domestic Science in 1874 and became mandatory for female students two years later. In 1895, when separate department of physical education were established for men and women, 25-year-old Ella Morrison of Bement was appointed as Director of Physical Culture for Women.

It wasn't until 1924 when the first female graduate earned a bachelor's degree in education under the major of physical education. A master's degree program appeared in 1942.

In 1917, Freer authored an article for the Daily Illini, writing that "there is no university where the girls derive more benefit and enjoyment from the physical education than at Illinois."

Ella Morrison (1896-1900)

Born in Bement in 1870, just 31 miles from the University of Illinois campus, Ella Morrison became Director of Physical Culture for Women. Under her guidance, the U of I allowed club competition in sports, including basketball. She died in 1934.

Jeanette Carpenter Lincoln (1900-1909)

Jeanette Lincoln succeeded Morrison in 1900, the same year women were first allowed to compete in the Olympic games. In 1903, the Women's Athletic Association was formed under her administration.

Gertrude Moulton (1909-1915)

A native of Rio Grange, Ohio, she transferred from Oberlin College and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois. Moulton was appointed head of UI's physical education department in 1909 and later served as a medical advisor for women at the university. She returned to Oberlin in 1923 and retired in 1945. Moulton won the National Physical Education Association's Honor Award and died in 1964.

Louise Freer (1915-49)

Freer replaced Gertrude Moulton as head of UI's Department of Physical Education in 1915, coming from Columbia University in New York. She directed it through an era that saw the construction of UI's new Women's Gymnasium (1930), a building that would eventually be renamed in her honor.

A significant number of UI graduates would go on to make their marks in physical education throughout the nation. She retired in 1949.

Laura Huelster (1949-1966)

Born in Iowa in 1906, 37-year-old Laura Huelster was schooled in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She entered the University of Illinois as a freshman in 1923 with plans of becoming an English major. Huelster changed her major to physical education as a junior, the year she captained UI's women's hockey and basketball teams.

After graduating in 1927 and teaching for two years in Waukegan, she returned to her alma mater and eventually replaced her mentor, Louise Freer.

During her 17 years as UI's women's department head, Huelster's staff grew from 16 to 50 individuals. One of her more significant contributions was chairing a committee that ushered women's athletics from the intramural level to varsity status at the U of I. She died in 1986.