Ethel Mary Cartwright was an inaugural inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
A pioneer in women's athletics, was born on Oct. 1, 1880 in Clapham, England and died in Magog, Que., on Sept. 18, 1955.
Appointed as an instructor at McGill's Royal Victoria College in 1906, she taught there until 1927, except for a two-year leave to serve in a military hospital in Wales.
She set up structured intramural competition in basketball, hockey, gymnastics, swimming, fencing and tennis. She shifted the emphasis from military-based physical education training to specialized training through schools and was instrumental in creating the McGill School of Physical Education in 1919.
She initiated an undergraduate requirement in physical education which set a long followed standard for fitness.
She devised eligibility and playing rules for women's basketball, organized a women's intercollegiate league, coached the RVC team and established the "Bronze Baby Trophy" in 1921-22, still awarded today to the CIAU women's basketball champions.
In 1948, she was one of five recipients of the R. Tait McKenzie Award, the highest recognition bestowed by the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education & Recreation.
