John Frederick Bohler was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on April 14, 1885. He attended Schuylkill Seminary in Reading between 1904 and 1907 and played on the football, basketball, baseball and track teams. While at Schuylkill Bohler also coached and taught physical education courses. In the summer of 1905 he attended the Chautauqua Summer School of Physical Education. It was at this session that he gained much of his theoretical knowledge in physical education and met many national figures in the development of physical education. In 1906 he organized, captained and played center for the Reading Bears, a professional basketball team, which won the "world" championship. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from Schuylkill Seminary in 1907. Following graduation Bohler went to the University of Nebraska where he was a student assistant. He studied, performed research, and gained coaching experience while at Nebraska but did not receive academic credit for his work because there were apparently no institutions then granting advanced degrees in physical education.
In 1908 Bohler was hired as the Physical Director, Coach and Trainer at the State College of Washington. He was married to Ida Louise Hatz on December 29, 1909. In 1915 he became the Director of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics. During the First World War Bohler attended Officers Training Camp at the Presidio (summer, 1918) and was at the Physical Education and Bayonet School at Princeton in November 1918. While at WSC, Bohler coached basketball, track, baseball, wrestling, boxing, and skiing, taught classes in physical education, was athletic trainer for many years, and administered and developed the physical education and athletic programs. In 1944 Bohler was named the first Director of the School of Physical Education.
In addition to his duties on the campus Bohler was active in other organizations. He was present at the organizational meeting of the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Conference in 1915, President of that organization in 1918 and historian from 1916 to 1941. He was also the Secretary of the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1909 to 1915 and historian of that association in 1910. From 1915 to 1933 he was a member of the Rules Committee of the National Intercollegiate Basketball Association and was the Chairman of the Intercollegiate Basketball Committee of the Olympic Committee from 1936 to 1940.
In Pullman, Washington, Bohler belonged to the Kiwanis Club, the Masonic Lodge, the Knights of Pythias, the Chamber of Commerce, the Community chest, and the Methodist Church and served on the City Council, as mayor, as chairman of the Swimming Pool Trustees and as chairman of the Kamiak Butte Development Committee.
On September 15, 1950 Bohler left WSC and became General Manager of the Spokane Civic Auditorium, a post he held until he retired in January 1955 and returned to Pullman. Bohler was a charter member of the National Football Hall of Fame, was awarded the Helms Athletic Foundation Medal, and was elected to the Helms Hall College Basketball Hall of Fame. Bohler died in Pullman, Washington on July 12, 1960.
The collection dates from 1907 to 1956 but the bulk dates are 1908-1950. The collection includes correspondence, posters, a thesis about Bohler, and photographs but it consists primarily of newspaper clippings -- many mounted in personal scrapbooks. The clippings provide a reasonably complete record of the major events in Bohler's athletic and administrative career as well as personal events in the lives of family members.
The papers have been arranged in a single alphabetical arrangement.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
John Frederick Bohler Papers, 1907-1956 (Cage 502)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The papers of J. Fred Bohler were received by the University Libraries with the WSU Physical Education and Athletics Director Records in 1957. In 1984 these papers were separted into this collection.
In 1984 these papers were seperated from the State College of Washington Physical
Education and Athletics Director Records, 1908-1967
Washington State University School of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics Records, 1894-1976
Washington State University Publications: Physical Education
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.