George O. Draper, Springfield College's alumni secretary, wrote this letter to James A. Naismith on June 24, 1931. It is a reply to a letter Naismith mailed to McCurdy on June 6, and Draper is responding because McCurdy is out of town. Draper writes about commencement and the prospect of a panel devoted to the history of basketball in the World’s Assembly of the YMCA. He adds that he’d be happy to receive a photograph of the original rules as well as of Naismith.
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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.
