Bell graduated from Sargent Normal School of Physical Education in 1910, and received her Bachelor of Science from University of Chicago in 1915.

Through these two roles, Bell was able to put all students at the university on the same footing to receive all privileges of the Health Service and gymnasium.

She was an active member of the American Physical Education Association, serving on the Executive Committee and Legislative Board of the Women's Athletic Section.

[6] Bell was director of the Barbour Gymnasium and helped fight to raise money to expand the physical education facilities for women.

As Chairman of the Program of Physical Education for Women, Bell overlooked the activities that occurred at Barbour Gymnasium and Palmer Field, including physical education courses, dances, and open gymnasium times where women could come and meet other female students from around the university.

Bell believed the best way to monitor the success of women following this plan was to encourage family doctors to fill out a physical examination form that would include information on health history, examination findings, any diagnoses, and the doctor's recommendations for each female student and her health.

[9] Bell also encouraged her students to become physical education teachers, as she recognized her own vocation as one that truly developed young people into full, healthy adults.

She gave talks on multiple campuses, trying to ignite interest in a career in physical education in female students across the east and Midwest.

It was a million dollar swimming pool for women, financed from a grant given by the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics.

[12] In 1922, Bell wrote to the University President Marion Burton that women's athletics' first priority was to have their own swimming pool.

[13] Though it took a while to come into fruition, Bell admitted it was "the rare institution that has facilities and staff" that helped promote women's teams.

In 1943, Bell served on the Southeastern Michigan Recreation Project, Department of Conservation's Ann Arbor Planning Committee.

The superintendent, Eugene B. Elliot, urged Bell to join the Advisory Committee, as a representative of both education and health.

[20] Bell was involved with many projects at local, state, and national levels due to her reputation and expertise in physical education.

Bell suggested that these "accusations do not seem very realistic since it is difficult to conceive of injuries of the reproductive tract through sports competition".

[12] Bell believed the stigma around menstruation was the single worst factor that was limiting the successes of women in the job markets.

Bell wrote an article in Hygeia: The Health Magazine of the American Medical Association in March 1942, entitled "Answers to Practical Questions on Menstruation".

In this article, she discussed the normalcy and importance of menstruation for the average woman, and that it should be not looked at with disdain or disgust, or as a sickness of any kind.

Despite being a working woman herself, Bell spoke prominently about the importance of women at home in the economy during the economic crisis of the Great Depression.

In the midst of World War II, Bell was adamant that girls needed to have endurance, skill, and agility in order to "replace her brother on the home front in industry and in community life".

Doing so, Bell felt, would allow women to both be more vigorous in their own lives, but more importantly, serve the country in the wake of World War II.

[28] Bell was able to accomplish this goal by serving on the Committee on Physical Fitness and Recreation through the Michigan Council on Defense from 1942 to 1945.