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Dr.
Irmagene Holloway
Class of 1996
Background:
Irmagene Nevins Holloway was born in 1899 on a farm near Dodge
City, Kansas, U.S.A. She is a 1917 graduate of Dodge City
High School. From an early age Dr. Holloway had an intense
desire to be involved in health, safety, accident prevention.
In 1922 she received a bachelors degree from Baker University,
Baldwin, Kansas, and in 1928 a masters degree in health and
physical education from Columbia University, New York, New
York. Following several years of teaching, she enrolled in
New York University and received a doctorate in safety education
in 1941.
Professional
Experience:
From 1922 until 1927 Dr. Holloway taught health and physical
education in Kansas high schools. In 1927 she became chair
of the Department of Health and Physical Education for Women
at Kansas State Teachers College (now Pittsburg State University).
In 1943 Dr. Holloway became assistant director of First Aid,
Water Safety and Accident Prevention for the American Red
Cross (ARC) in Washington, D.C. She was appointed national
director of accident prevention for the ARC in 1943. Following
her marriage in 1948, she and her husband moved to New York
City and later to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they lived for 12
years. During that period Dr. Holloway worked for the Greater
New York Safety Council and the Greater Cincinnati Safety
Council. Following her husband's death in 1961, Dr. Holloway
joined the United States Public Health Service as a safety
program specialist. In 1967 she became a safety specialist
with the United States Product Safety Commission. She retired
in 1969 and served as a consultant until 1983 for Owens-Corning
Fiberglass, Ward LaFrance Manufacturing Company, the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, and other organizations.
Career
Highlights:
Dr. Holloway achieved a number of firsts in her career. She
was the first woman in the United States to receive a doctorate
in safety education. She taught the first driver education
teacher preparation course west of the Mississippi River at
Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas. She was the
first woman president of the American Academy of Safety Education.
Her work with the American Red Cross laid the foundation for
improvement of instructional programs in first aid, water
safety and accident prevention. Since then, thousands of courses
have been offered to hundreds of thousands of individuals
across the United States. Her research and writing in the
area of school safety education was instrumental in helping
to bring safety education and traffic safety education to
the nation's schools. Many school districts have required
that safety education, first aid, and/or driver education
be taught at the appropriate grade levels. Much of her safety
education curriculum material was reproduced in other languages
in other countries. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have
been much safer in schools, at home, or on the job due to
the research and subsequent printing of the safety education
curriculum materials prepared by Dr. Holloway.
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