Basketball Commemoration Day program (Nov. 6, 1961)
Description:
This four page document is a program from the November 6th 1961 Basketball Commemoration Day. The program lists the schedule for the day, including the laying of the cornerstone and a luncheon held at the Memorial Field House on the campus of Springfield College. There is a menu for the luncheon and a list of the speakers and important people who attended.
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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.
