A newspaper article published in the Springfield Union News titled "Captain of World's First Basketball Team Returns to Springfield College". The article focuses on Thomas D. Patton who was one of the first men to play the game of basketball. It describes his return to Springfield to help in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the game. It also has quotes of him and his remembrances of the creation of the game and some of the early days of the game. There is a picture of him with Edward Hickox as well. It was thought to have been published in 1941 as this was the 50th anniversary of the game.
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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.