Clara Gregory Baer

Clara Gregory Baer (August 27, 1863 – January 19, 1938) was an American physical education instructor and women's sports pioneer. Baer introduced the first teacher certification course for physical education in the Southern United States, and authored the first published rules of women's basketball. She also developed the sport of Newcomb ball and played a role in the early development of netball.

Baer was born in Algiers, Louisiana to Hamilton John Baer, and Ellen Douglas Riley. She attended secondary school in Louisville, Kentucky and then attended the Emerson School of Oratory, the Boston School of Expression, and the Posse Normal School of Physical Education, all in Boston. After college, she returned to the South, initially invited by the Southern Athletic Club to teach gymnastics to women. At the time, the Club was an all-male club, although wives, sisters and daughters were permitted to use the club once a week for Baer's lesson. Baer decided to contact the president of Newcomb College, now part of Tulane University, to inquire about the possibility of a job teaching physical education to students. She was hired on a trial basis, as physical education was not yet an established part of the curriculum. Her position was made permanent, and she eventually completed a 38-year career in physical education and teacher training. Baer was hired by the Sophie Newcomb College to start a physical education department in 1891. She started the first teacher certification program in the South, as well as the first four-year degree program in physical education. The teacher certification program was established in 1893, and the degree program was initiated in 1907.

Baer is best known as the author of the first book of rules for women's basketball in 1896. Although Senda Berenson introduced basketball to Smith in 1892, Berenson did not publish her version of the rules until 1899, so Baer is credited with the first publication of rules for women's basketball. As Baer noted:

...
Wikipedia