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Title Page: 'Exercise in Education and Medicine'
1917
The Mill of Kintail

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Inside 'Exercise in Education and Medicine'
1917
University of Pennsylvania

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In 1907, McKenzie was made Professor of Physical Therapy on the Faculty of Medicine and was active on the University Hospital staff as Physical Therapist. He designed the courses of exercise, supervised the student’s health, and gave training to students in public health.

Dr. McKenzie met Ethel O’Neil in 1907, while traveling to London to speak at the International Congress on School Hygiene. Ethel was on her way to Berlin to continue her studies as a concert pianist. They married soon after in Dublin. Lord and Lady Aberdeen, friends of McKenzie, witnessed the ceremony.

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R.Tait McKenzie's wedding day
1907
Dublin, Ireland

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In 1911, after five years of work McKenzie completed the difficult and complex piece he entitled the Onslaught. An avid football enthusiast from his McGill days, he attended regular games and practices and was often seen running on to the field with his black medical bag to attend an injury. Members of the University of Pennsylvania football team were put through the line play the piece depicts over and over again so that McKenzie could study the effort.

The Joy of Effort is recognized widely as one of McKenzie’s best sculptures. The Joy of Effort featuring three runners clearing the hurdles, completed in 1912, was presented to Sweden to commemorate the fifth Olympic games of the modern era. McKenzie was honored with a medallion from the King of Sweden acknowledging his talents as a sculptor of athletes.

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'The Joy of Effort', a bronzed plaster by R. Tait McKenzie.
1912
The Mill of Kintail

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In 1914, McKenzie joined the British Army Royal Medical Corps as a surgeon. McKenzie soon enrolled in an instructors’ training course to familiarize himself with the methods of physical training employed by the military. It was soon discovered that he was the author of Exercise in Education and Medicine, a book used regularly by the course trainers.

The commanding officer requested that McKenzie join him on an inspection tour of the training camps and hospitals in the South Coast of England. Their report noted that the majority of the men in the camps were unfit for training and army service. McKenzie recommended a program of physical training for recruits and enlisted men and developed rehabilitation centers where patients received physical therapy. His recommendations were accepted and McKenzie was given a majority. Major McKenzie was then placed in charge of the Command Depot at Heaton Park.

McKenzie actively documented his treatment methods and in 1918 Reclaiming the Maimed and A Handbook of Physical Therapy were published. Both would be adopted as official manuals by authorities in England, Canada and the United States.

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Photograph of Major McKenzie. Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Archives.
1915
England

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Portrait of R. Tait McKenzie
1918
The Mill of Kintail

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R.T. McKenzie's 'Reclaiming The Maimed'
1917
England

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Massage in 'Reclaiming the Maimed'
1918
England

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The ICAA Medal Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association Medal was designed after his return from the War.

Dr. McKenzie firmly believed in the relationship between physical activity and a sense of well being.

"The body is constructed for a life of physical activity and it needs constant and varied movement for its proper development. Anything which curtails or prevents this natural means of growth must result in preventing the individual from reaching his highest possibilities."

In 1920, McKenzie joined the Philadelphia Skating Club. Here he would sketch and observe the skaters. He had always had an interest in skating which stemmed from his boyhood days on the Indian River.

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Track and field medallion by R.Tait McKenzie
1917
Philadelphia

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Brothers of the Wind (1921-1923)
1921
The Mill of Kintail