Charles Brightbill

Charles Brightbill’s legacy to humanity lives on in his writings and in the lives of the people everywhere who extend his influence toward an awareness of the value of recreative living. He served for 33 years as a leader at the forefront of the local, state, national and international park and recreation movement. Through his leadership he was able to record for generations a greater understanding of the challenge of leisure as well as a profound philosophy for the recreation and park profession.

Dr. Brightbill’s writings include nine books and more than 75 published papers, monographs, and articles. His final book, Education for Leisure-Centered Living was published shortly after his death. Dr. Brightbill’s influence was carried to far corners of the world by the hundreds of students who knew him as professor and head of the Department of Recreation and Municipal Park Administration (now known as the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism) at the U of I from 1951 to 1966.

His leadership and contributions to the field were highly recognized by his colleagues through elective offices and special honors. One of these was his membership as a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Education; another was a national citation he received for his contribution to American Defense Manpower in 1951. He was also fellow and president of the American Recreation Society. Professor Brightbill was a champion of the concept of professional and lay cooperation in the recreation field and contributed greatly to developing the principles that helped bring about the merger of lay and professional groups to form the National Recreation and Park Association.