Irene Knox and Maryland Gun Girls Bring Home National Title

COLLEGE PARK, Md., March, 1932—For the second year in a row, education major Irene Knox has propelled Maryland’s Women’s Rifle Team to a victory in the National Inter-Collegiate Rifle Competition. She was also named this year’s Women’s Individual Inter-Collegiate Rifle Champion.

From a distance of 50 feet, Irene Knox takes aim at a bull’s-eye no wider than .15 inches.

It all began during the 1931 season, when Knox was a mere freshman. Even then, she distinguished herself on the field, placing third in the individual inter-collegiate championships. Her team shooting that year gave the “gun girls” the boost they needed to go undefeated and claim their first national title since 1926.

Knox has done one better in 1932, writing herself into the record books and making herself the darling of Fox Movietone News at the same time. In the individual competition, she never missed the bull’s-eye. Her perfect score of 600 points is a championship first that trumps the men’s record of 597 set in 1927.

In the team shoot-out, she scored 599, missing the center-mark once.

Thanks to Knox’s efforts, and stellar performances from her teammates, rival University of Missouri has been sent back across the Mississippi shouldering a second-place trophy. Even if the team, coached by Sgt. Earl Hendricks, should go on to heart-breaking defeats in 1933 and 1934, they will always have these halcyon days to look back on. And who knows, perhaps 50 years from now Maryland will establish a record of its greatest
athletes—sure’s shootin’, Knox would be included. —MW

Women in the NCAA Today

The Maryland Women’s Rifle Team was founded in 1922 and disbanded in 1964. Athletic Hall of Fame member Irene Knox graduated in 1934, but her competitive spirit lives on through the triumphs of Shay Doron in basketball, Mollie Reese in lacrosse, Susie Rowe in field hockey, and hundreds of others who participate in the university’s 15 different women’s varsity sports.

Important Firsts: African American Graduates

In honor of Black History Month (February), Terp magazine recognizes some important firsts at the University of Maryland.

• In 1951, Hiram Whittle was the first African American undergraduate to be admitted to the University of Maryland.

• The first African American graduate student to complete his coursework on campus was Parren James Mitchell, who received his master’s in sociology in 1952. The first African American elected to Congress from the state of Maryland, Mitchell is a member of the University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame. Other early African American students at the university include Rose Shockley Wiseman, Myrtle Holmes Wake and John Francis Davis, who completed their coursework off-campus but received their master’s degrees in education at the June 9, 1951, commencement ceremony in College Park.

• Elaine Johnson, the first African American female undergraduate student, began her studies in 1955 and received her degree in education in 1959.

• In 1966, Rebecca Carroll became the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from the University of Maryland. She received her degree in education.

• In 2000, Kimberly Weems, Tasha Inniss and Sherry Scott Joseph (shown, left to right) were the first three African American women to receive doctoral degrees in mathematics from Maryland.

• Today, the University of Maryland is first among the nation’s Top 20 public universities in the total number of degrees conferred upon African Americans.

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