Lake Erie College Athletics Hall of Fame
Ruth Potwine, Bartlett, better known as "Mrs. B.," attended Mt. Holyoke College and Arnold College of Physical Education from which she received a B.S. degree in 1904.
She taught physical education in Erie, Pa., and directed the physical education program at the YWCA there before coming to Lake Erie College in 1907 as Instructor of Physical Education. After a short time she resigned to study medicine for three years at NY Medical College where she met her husband. Upon the death of her husband she accepted the position of Head of the Physical Education Department at Winthrop College in South Carolina where she remained for 10 years. She returned to Lake Erie college in 1928 in the same position until she retired in 1949, a total of 28 years at Lake Erie College. "Mrs. B." was responsible for many innovations on our campus during her tenure as Head of the Physical Education Department. She initiated a Fifth Year Program in the Physical Education, which combined a liberal arts undergraduate program with a fifth year professional program leading to Graduate Student Certificate in Physical Education.
Before World War II she developed a course in aviation. With the beginning of the war Lake Erie College was one of two colleges selected by the federal government to provide an aviation training program. She brought outstanding athletes to campus for the annual Sports Days, was one of the first to promote modern dance in this area of Ohio, and was one of the organizations of the Cleveland Field Hockey Association because of a special interest in the sport. Sports Days, riding meets, tennis matches, swimming meets were always peak days on the college calendar. Upon her retirement, "Mrs. B." returned to her home in New England where she died in January of 1962.
As a pioneer of the athletic program at Lake Erie College, it is fitting that Ruth Potwine Bartlett be inducted posthumously into the Athletic Hall of Fame on this April 27, 1990.
