Physical educator Patricia Geadelmann earned a master's in Physical Education from the University of Iowa. In 1978, she completed a doctoral degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in educational administration and curriculum from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her 1974 master's thesis focuses on elementary school students' stereotypes about sports, recreation and the sexes, a topic that Geadelmann continued to explore in her professional career. Whilst in graduate school Geadelmann wrote a weekly column on college women's sports for the Greensboro Daily News.
Geadelmann served as chairwoman of the physical education department of the Malcolm Price Laboratory School at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Her early years at Malcolm Price Laboratory School coincided with the implementation of Title IX, which mandated equal education opportunity in public school offerings. Starting in 1977, Geadelmann provided consultant services to public school districts, colleges, and government agencies at the state and federal level in areas of physical education, curriculum, sex equality, and general women's issues.
An avowed feminist, Geadelmann was a strong supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. She served as chair of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW) from 1972 to 1988 and during this time was appointed as Iowa's representative to President Reagan's Fifty States Project, aimed at identifying and eliminating all sex discrimination from state statutes. This project led Geadelmann to attend a conference in Washington, D.C. where she met with President Ronald Reagan. In 1981, Geadelmann was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Women of America and received the Mabel Lee Award for outstanding young physical educators. Geadelmann served as Special Assistant to the President for Board and Governmental Relations and Professor of Physical Education at the University of Northern Iowa.
The Patricia Lou Geadelmann papers date from 1965 to 2006 and measure 3.1 linear feet. The papers are arranged in six series: Biographical Materials, Thesis and Dissertation, Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW), Mary Louise Smith, Teaching, and Writings.
The first series, Biographical Materials (1981-2006), contains resumes and newspaper clippings, which focus on Geadelmann's career as a physical educator and include an interview about her meeting with President Reagan in 1981.
The second series, Thesis and Dissertation (1968-1988), contains Geadelmann's research notes and surveys concerning sex role stereotyping and gender equity in schools. Copies of her completed thesis and dissertation are included; "Sex Role Stereotyping in Attitudes of Elementary School Children Toward Participation in Sports Activities" (University of Iowa, 1974) and "Sex Equality in Physical Education Programs of Selected NCA Accredited Iowa High Schools" (University of North Carolina in Greensboro, 1978).
The third series, Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW), (1965-1990) contains correspondence, meeting minutes and reports of the commission, appointed by Governor Robert D. Ray, to address the discrimination against women in practice and in the law, and to collect information on other groups and individuals concerned with improving the status of women. Included is a final report of the 1977-1978 Commission to Study Implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment. This series also contains correspondence, newspaper clippings and notes concerning President Reagan's Fifty States Project to identify and correct discriminatory state laws. A press release is included, of the remarks President Reagan made at the Fifty States project luncheon, in the White House, on October 7, 1981, which includes his views on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Fifty States Project reviewed the 1983 Iowa Code for sex discrimination and made 100 recommendations for changes in areas such as employment and child custody. Also in the series is a speech Geadelmann made as chair, at of the Thirteenth Annual Iowa Women's Hall of Fame ceremony in 1987. As well as presiding over the ceremony, Geadelmann was awarded the Cristine Wilson Medal.
The fourth series, Mary Louise Smith (1978-1997), consists of obituaries, condolences Geadelmann and Sue Follon received on the death of their close friend, and eulogies they gave at Mary Louise Smith's funeral in 1997. Letters nominating Mary Louise Smith for the National Women's Hall of Fame and information pertaining to Pro-choice America are also included, along with two speeches Smith made in 1991, "A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr." and "Age is Opportunity" (for the Ecumenical Conference on Aging).
The fifth series, Teaching (1981-1985), contains class notes, a presentation made at the 1985 Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, and transparencies for research survey results on the topic of fairness in coeducational physical education classes. Also included are class rosters, correspondence and notes on workshops Geadelmann gave in 1981 at various schools in Iowa on multicultural, non-sexist approaches to physical education.
The sixth series, Writings (1971-1983), contains drafts with annotated notes and final copies of research writings Geadelmann made as an associate professor at the Price Laboratory School, located at the University of Northern Iowa. Such topics include, "Contact Activities in the Coeducational Curriculum" and "Identification and Elimination of Sex Bias in the Elementary School Physical Education Curriculum." Also included is an article, "Implications of the Implementation of Title IX for Professional Preparation Programs in Physical Education," submitted to the Journal of Physical Education and Recreation in July 1979. Geadelmann's book, Equality in Sport for Women, published in 1979, is also included.
Alternate Extent Statement: 47 audiocassette tapes
Access: The papers are open for research.
Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The papers (donor no.1190) were donated by Patricia L. Geadelmann in 2009.
Preferred Citation: Patricia Geadelmann papers, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.
