Doris Irene Magee (née Lee, 21 February 1907 – 4 July 2002) was an Australian sprinter and sports administrator.Tarbotton, Davi
People: Doris Magee (nee Lee)
, Australian Athletics Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2018. Magee campaigned for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

by advocating for the inclusion of women in Australia's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

teams.

Competing

Magee competed as a sprinter throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s for local Sydney clubs City Girls and Randwick Kensington, with moderate success.

Administration

After serving as honorary secretary of the women's section of the Randwick-Kensington Athletics Club, Magee's administrative career in Australian athletics began in earnest in May 1931 when her nomination for the position as honorary assistant secretary for the New South Wales Amateur Athletics Association was accepted, and she became the organisation's first female executive officer. Despite her appointment, Magee received different treatment from her male counterparts, such as when she was requested to leave a meeting held in August 1931 while charges against a Sydney athlete were read out because the allegations included the use of insulting language. Magee went onto become general secretary of the Australian Women's Amateur Athletics Union in 1932. She was also a founding member of the New South Wales Women's Amateur Athletics Union, becoming that organisation's first honorary secretary before being appointed president in 1959. During her career, Magee relentlessly campaigned to have the gender imbalance of Australian track and field athletes in major sporting events equalised. She objected to the omission of Clarice Kennedy from the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. When she was appointed as manageress of the women's track and field team for the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 ye ...

held in Australia, she challenged the policy of only selecting seven women due to financial constraints, despite the depth of female talent within Australian athletics. The quota was raised to 15 when Magee took full responsibility for the women. Magee acted as chaperone for the female Australian athletes who travelled to London for the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. In 1952, Magee took issue with the low rankings given to the women's relay team vying for a spot in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, which would have meant the team (consisting of

Marjorie Jackson Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (13 September 1931) is a former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete. She finished her sporting career with two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, six individual world records and ...

Shirley Strickland Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. ...

, Verna Johnston and Winsome Cripps) would have been omitted from the Australian team. Magee said she was again willing to organise a door-to-door campaign to seek the necessary funds to send the athletes, similar to what she had done prior to the 1948 Olympics. Magee openly criticised the lack of consideration of female athletes who had already proven their worth at the 1948 Olympics, describing it as "galling" and "bitterly disappointing". After various fundraising efforts, Magee said she was confident they had raised enough money to send the athletes, including the Australian relay team, to Helsinki. Magee was appointed to the International Association of Athletics Federations Women's Committee in 1952. The promotion of women's sport in Australia increased when Magee began writing her own weekly newspaper column in the 1950s called "Women in Sport" for ''

The Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

''.

Honours

As part of the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1956, Magee was appointed as a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for her services to women's athletics and to social welfare. In 1972, Magee received the IAAF Veteran's Pin. As part of the

1980 Australia Day Honours The 1980 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 1980 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), with t ...

, Magee was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for her service to the sport of athletics.(26 January 1980
Australia Day Honours
''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

''. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

Death

Magee died at the War Veterans Nursing Home in Narrabeen on 4 July 2002. A funeral service was held on 11 July and a memorial service was held on 24 July.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, Doris 1907 births 2002 deaths Women sports executives and administrators Australian sports businesspeople Australian female sprinters Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of Australia Place of birth missing