Accident led Naismith to start McGill football career (January 25, 1943)
Description:
Article titled "Accident led Naismith to start McGill football career" published by The Times (Hammond, Indiana) on February 24, 1941. Article is cut up in many pieces and the order jumps back and forth between the vertical crease that divides the document in half. On the right hand side there is a hand written note that reads "[Name of student] '96 made a copy of this 2-24-41 and with copy of 1941 Naismith Souvenir Bulletin mailed to the clerk of town of Almonte, Lanark county, Ontario. I requested that Almonte give some recognition to their famous boy - possibly name a school for him." Beneath this is a type written note "Received from T.D.Patton February 4, 1943 ack. and thanked Mr. Patton jrc." There is a portrait drawing of Naismith at age 30. T.D. Patton is one of the first men to play the game of basketball, Thomas Duncan Patton (Class of 1892).
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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.
