Hall of Fame
JANE MORRISON
- Sports: Field Hockey, Basketball, Swimming, Rifle
- Graduation Year: 1940
- Highlights: Heavily involved in athletics and clubs during her undergrad career from 1936-40, played field hockey and basketball, was a member of the swimming team and the rifle club, also spent time with the dance team and served as class treasurer, became a pilot and flew planes in World War II, coached swimming for 20 years at Ohio Wesleyan.
Jane Morrison will be posthumously inducted into the Rock Athletics Hall of Fame this fall after a life of service to education, athletics and to her country.
Morrison attended Slippery Rock from 1936-40, well before Title IX helped elevate women's athletics to varsity and intercollegiate status. She did not let that lack of opportunity deter her and instead worked to make sure women had the chance to be involved in multiple sports.
She took on multiple leadership roles, including serving as her class treasurer in both 1939 and 1940. Morrison was a member of the field hockey, basketball and swimming teams and also spent time as a member of the rifle and dance clubs during her time at what was then Slippery Rock State Teachers College. She graduated in 1940 with a degree in physical education with minors in both math and science.
After finishing her degree at Slippery Rock, she took advantage of a passion for flying and a need for pilots during World War II and joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She trained and earned her pilots license, eventually flying solo planes and serving as a pilot for the U.S. Military during World War II.
WASP flew every aircraft in the Army's arsenal to assist in the war effort. In addition to ferrying, they towed gunnery targets, transported equipment and non-flying personnel and flight-tested aircraft that had been repaired before the men were allowed to fly them again. For more than two years, WASP performed a wide variety of aviation-related jobs and served at more than 120 bases around the country.
Her and the other women pilots during World War II were originally denied military status despite their efforts, but were officially granted military status in 1977 by President Carter. For her efforts, Morrison was awarded the Reserve Forces Policy Board Citizen Patriot Award by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Following her military career, Morrison embarked on a career in education. She earned a master's degree from Ohio State University and found her way to Ohio Wesleyan University, where she joined the faculty in 1963. In addition to teaching, she coached synchronized swimming for 10 years and the intercollegiate swimming team for 20 years. She also served as the secretary and treasurer for the Ohio Women's Swimming Association from 1973-82. She was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983.
Morrison, originally from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, passed away in 2006 at the age of 87. Members of her family will accept the Hall of Fame honor on her behalf.
