Marguerite A. Clifton papers

Marguerite Ann Clifton was born in Long Beach, California (1925) to Bertha and James Clifton. After leaving Long Beach, Clifton earned her B.A. from University of Redlands, an M.A. from USC, and an EdD from Stanford University. Her career in Physical Education with a focus on childhood motor skill development spanned positions at UCLA, Purdue University, and CSU Long Beach.

Clifton was hired to the faculty of the Department of Physical Education at Purdue in 1964 as the the Head of the Department of Physical Education for Women. Before coming to Purdue, Clifton had worked as the Chairman of the Undergraduate Men's and Women's Physical Education Major Unit at the University of California at Los Angeles. After leaving Purdue, she joined the faculty at CSU Long Beach as the Physical Education Department Chair, and received Professor Emeritus status in 1987.

During her time as department head at Purdue, Clifton worked to improve and promote the field of women's physical education. She and co-author Hope Smith agreed to donate one-third of the royalties from their book, "Introduction to Human Movement," to expand the Department of Physical Education for Women. In addition, Clifton served as the president of the American Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. In addition to her service to the AAHPE, Clifton served as president of numerous physical education related organizations, including AAPAR, AAHPER, AAKPE, and NAPEHE.