Email from Rachael Naismith to Jeffrey Monseau (Aug. 4, 2016)
Description:
An email from Rachael Naismith, great-granddaughter of Dr. James Naismith, to Jeffrey Monseau, College Archivist at Springfield College dated August 4, 2016. The email forwards an email from her sister, Laurie Naismith, containing photographs of a letter that Basketball coaching great, John B. McLendon wrote to Lauren on January 28, 1992. The letter talks about Dr. James naismith, his faith and what he talked about in class. To see just the images, go here: http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/17404
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James A. Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939), known as "The Father of Basketball" was born in Almonte, Ontario. When he was nine, both of his parents died of typhoid fever and he was raised by his uncle, who later financed Naismith's way through college. He earned his theological degree from McGill University and graduated from Springfield College, then the YMCA Training School, in 1891. After graduation, he was hired as a faculty member, where he taught for five years. It is in his first year as a faculty member at Springfield College that he created the game of Basketball as an activity for an unruly class. In 1895, Naismith enrolled at the Gross Medical School in Denver and received his M.D. in 1898. In that same year, Naismith took the position of department head of physical education at the University of Kansas, where he remained until his death.
