Martin H. Rogers
Martin H. Rogers always had an interest in physical education and recreation. He was born in 1915 in Oberlin, Ohio. He grew up there and attended Oberlin College where he graduated in 1935 with a degree in Physical Education. He served as student athletic trainer for the Oberlin basketball and track teams. He went on to get his Master of Arts Degree at New York University in 1938 and completed his doctorate at Syracuse University in 1956.
After earning his master’s degree, he served as director of recreation programs for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Huron and Lorain (OH) counties in 1936-37, and the following year he was director for the Boys’ Division of the Akron (OH) YMCA. In 1938, Dr. Rogers and his wife Billie went to the Middle East, where he served as physical education director for Roberts College in Istanbul, Turkey. With World War II beginning in Europe, the couple traveled back to the United States via Russia, Japan, and China. They reached Hawaii a few weeks in advance of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, arriving in Ohio just before the United States entered the war.
After living and working in Turkey for several years, he joined the faculty at SUNY Brockport (then called Brockport State Teachers College) in 1945. Over the years at Brockport, he coached football, basketball, gymnastics, diving, and baseball. He served as Chairperson for men’s physical education from 1945-1964, athletic director 1945-1955, and the first Chair of the new Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies from 1967-1973. He oversaw the construction of the first Tuttle building and was very proud of his involvement in bringing this new, very modern (at the time) building to campus. During the 1950s the College owned a camp in the Adirondacks called Totem Camp. It served as a summer camp for kids and a training program for recreation leaders and camp counselors. Rogers served as director of the camp until the College sold the property in 1961.
Upon his return to the U.S., Dr. Rogers applied to Buffalo State University and to training as a U.S. Naval officer. While waiting to hear, he took a factory position, and in an accident lost three fingers on his right hand and the chance for a Navy career. He taught at Buffalo State from 1942 until 1945, serving on the U.S. Coast Guard temporary auxiliary during the war.
In 1945, he joined the Department of Health and Physical Education at Brockport, serving as chair of men’s physical education from 1945 to 1964 and athletic director from 1945 to 1955. When Brockport became a liberal arts college in 1965, he developed a program in recreation and leisure studies and became its chair, a position he held until he retired in 1977.
Known to many of his students as “The Doc”, Dr. Rogers retired in 1977, but his retirement did not put an end to his interest in physical education and recreation. He served on the Joint Recreation Commission for the Towns of Sweden and Clarkson and the Village of Brockport and remained active in that role after his retirement. In 1979 he was appointed Director of the 1979 International Summer Special Olympics, and in 1984 he served as Director of the New York State Senior Games, Western Region.
In 1985, he was a member of the first Brockport Athletics Hall of Fame induction class, and in 2001, he was honored at the first Recreation and Leisure Studies Alumni Banquet, where he received an honorary membership in the newly formed National Recreation & Leisure Association.
Dr. Rogers enjoyed traveling, especially to Alaska, and watching football. He was an avid Cleveland Browns fan and also followed the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) baseball team. He also enjoyed doing the New York Times crossword puzzles, although they caused a lot of frustration! Dr. Rogers passed away in 2002 at the age of 87.