Celebrate
the Past
Virtual Hall of Fame
R. Tait McKenzie 
“Robert Tait McKenzie was the third of four children born to immigrant Scotch parents at the manse Almonte, May, 1867. While he went to the local schools he showed a fondness for and good skill in the outdoor sports readily available in a pioneer settlement, in the bush country, on the foot of the Canadian Shield. Here on the hills and along the streams, he was exposed to a constant but changing vision of beauty and of wonder.
Through his studies, especially in anatomy, he came to know the human frame. He learned the intricate beauty
of structure which permits function and the release of energy under controlled direction to accomplish a goal. In 1905 McKenzie accepted the chair of Physical Education, newly created at the University of Pennsylvania. Here, where he spent the rest of his professional life, McKenzie flowered as a topflight physical educator often leading the profession in their thinking and practice.
In 1930 McKenzie returned to Almonte and purchased an old mill built in 1830. This he set up as a summer home and studio. To this, which he named the Mill of Kintail, he brought many of his models and began adding a collection of the pioneer arts and crafts. Today the mill is owned by Major J.F. Leys who is endeavouring to carry out the long range plans McKenzie left for its development.
Each summer until his death in 1938, McKenzie came to the Mill of Kintail, the scene of his boyhood, and year by year developed the Mill and its surroundings so as to reflect his intense loyalty and gratitude to his pioneer ancestors. Had he been born in the Canada of today it is possible, and even probable, that he could have found, within his own country, the wide range of scientific and artistic opportunities he was then obliged to seek abroad.
All the countries in which he lived and laboured, however, are drawn closer together by him and together rejoice in his work.”
- C. R. BLACKSTOCK
C.A.H.P.E.R.
Biennial Conference
Waterloo
June, 1972
R.Tait McKenzie Addresses
Taken from the book R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Addresses
From 1959-1979
Dedication
The “R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Address” has been presented at each of the National Conventions of the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (CAHPER) since 1955, with the first by a Canadian in 1959.
Introduction
McKenzie was known as the “Sculptor of Youth”. His art reflects his knowledge and understanding of medicine and physical education. His career as a sculptor coincided with the period of rapid increase in popular interest in physical education and his highly-trained scientific eye made him a very competent recorder of the movements of athletes.
THE SCULPTOR
by Ethel McKenzie
Master! Thou gavest with the gift of birth
A character unformed, some unwrought clay
To model into shape, its growth portray,
While I abide upon this gracious earth.
Blackie
This book is dedicated as a memorial tribute to C.R. "Blackie" Blackstock who passed away April 9, 1979. Blackie was CAHPER's first ED and long time admirer of R Tait Mckenzie. It was a long time dream of Blackie's to see a collection of R Tait McKenzie Memorial Addresses brought together in one publication. This book is in answer to Blackie's dream.
Education Through The Physical
RAE SPEIRS (June 25, 1959)
“Theirs Be The Glory”
JAMES F. LEYS (June 2, 1961)
A Man Unique in History
JOSEPH B. WOLFFE (June 27, 1963)
Four Blind Men and the Elephant
W. J. L’HEUREUX (June 22, 1965)
He Held the Visions of Our Profession
WILLIAM A.R. ORBAN (June 14, 1967)
Swimming with the Political Tide
MAURY L. VAN VLIET (July 31, 1978)
Challenge of the Pioneers
STEWART A. DAVIDSON (June 28, 1979)
Images
The Mill of Kintail
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R. Tait McKenzie and James Naismith
as teenagers |
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1886-1887 McGill Wicksteed Medals
Taken from the book R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Addresses
From 1959-1979
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"PHYSICAL EDUCATION’S MAN OF THE CENTURY"
Surgeon, physical educator, sculptor, soldier, athlete. |
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R. TAIT MCKENZIE MEMORIAL MUSEUM AT THE MILL OF KINTAIL
The Mill of Kintail, a pioneer gristmill built in 1830, restored by Tait McKenzie in 1931 as his summer home and studio, is one of the most beautiful of the historic and artistic sites in Canada. Within the National Capital Region, it is about 60 kms (35 miles) southwest of Ottawa. Now operated in the public interest by the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. |
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“JOY OF EFFORT” by Tait McKenzie
Set into the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, marking the Games of 1912.
A full sized (46”) sculptor’s original is at the Mill of Kintail.
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OLYMPIC SHIELD OF THE ATHLETES by Tait McKenzie
The epitome of track and field sports of the modern Olympic Games.
A full sized sculptor’s original (50”) is at the Mill of Kintail. |
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THE PLUNGER by Tait McKenzie
An athlete, unaware of his aesthetic appeal, is poised with arms held ready to swing forward to launch a flat splashing racing dive. |
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THE SPRINTER by Tait McKenzie
McKenzie’s first attempt at sculpture in the round, modeled from average measurements of many successful sprinters.
Seen in the Mill of Kintail. |
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DOUBLE TACKLE by Tait McKenzie
A brilliant example of modern abstract art; using the power of suggestion. |
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SHOTPUT by Tait McKenzie
The athletic impulse is clearly seen in this one of several of McKenzie’s small impersonal sketches in the rough. |
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WILLIAM A. CARR by Tait McKenzie
Strength and agility are implied here even in repose. One of several of McKenzie’s studies of individual Olympic and World record holders. |
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ONSLAUGHT by Tait McKenzie
A wedge play through the centre shown in the style developed before the First World War.
A full sized plaster original is in the Mill of Kintail.
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THE ATHLETE by Tait McKenzie
In the sculptor’s search for physical perfection, this statuette was modeled from the average measurements of about one hundred athletes. Seen in the Mill of Kintail. |
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THE SCOUT by Tait McKenzie
A bronze copy, presented by the Scouts of Philadelphia to Canada in 1963 stands before the National Headquarter in Ottawa.
A small plaster replica is in the Mill of Kintail. |
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FAIR PLAY by Tait McKenzie
Detail of the Olympic Shield of the Athletes, showing the Spirit of Olympia bringing athletes together in the abiding spirit of the modern Olympic Games.
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THE RELAY by Tait McKenzie
The “third man” of a relay four, alert to the progress of his team, has forgotten himself. |
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THE BOXER by Tait McKenzie
First of McKenzie’s athletic sculpture modeled free of specific average measurements. A tired boxer, seen at his moment of resolve to summon up the blood and deliver his utmost. |
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THE VOLUNTEER by Tait McKenzie
Erected in 1923 to honour those who feel in the First World War and augmented to include the Second World War, this is the site of the Annual Remembrance Day Parade of the Royal Canadian Legion, Almonte Branch, of which McKenzie was a member. |
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“THE CALL” by Tait McKenzie
Shown here is the Sculptor’s original in the Mill of Kintail. Greatest of McKenzie’s works, “The Call” in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, is a Tribute to the Valour of Scotland 1914-18 from men and women of Scottish blood and sympathies in the United States of America. The Mill of Kintail (Tait McKenzie Memorial Museum) displays the full size originals, both of the main figure and of the magnificent background frieze of the Marching Scouts. |
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MEMORIAL PLAQUE IN THE CLOISTER-ON-THE-HILL in the Mill of Kintail Conservation Area. |
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CLOISTER-ON-THE-HILL and EARLY SETTLER’S CABIN, in the Centennial Gardens, Mill of Kintail Conservation Area. |
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TAIT MCKENZIE AT “THE CALL” EDINBURGH, 1933. The Sculptor explaining to the fathering on the Sixth Anniversary of the Unveiling of “The Call”, that the main figure is not a portrait of any individual. It is idealized and made universal so that all viewers may equally share their personal and national pride and sorrow. |
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DR. TAIT MACKENZIE (left) and DR. JIM NAISMITH. Lifelong friends meet at the Mill of Kintail. |
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RED CROSS NURSES MEMORIAL, WASHINGTON, D.C.
The sculptor, Tait McKenzie, with his conception of the spirit of nursing.
The full sized original is in the Mill of Kintail. |
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ROBERT TAIT MCKENZIE.
A Canadian throughout his life, Tait McKenzie “Formed imperishable links between the United States, Great Britain and Canada.” |
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ETHEL (O’NEIL) MCKENZIE, plaque by Tait McKenzie.
Ethel brought to the doctor her talents as poet and professional musician, thus completely rounding out their mutual artistic life.
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