Letter to Florence Naismith from Draper (May 29, 1940)
Description:
George O. Draper, Springfield College’s alumni secretary, wrote this letter to James A. Naismith’s second wife, Florence B. (Kincaid) Naismith, on May 29, 1940. He writes that the Alumni Council will be holding a memorial service for James A. Naismith on June 9, 1940. Draper includes a list of the eighteen alumni being memorialized that year and invites her to attend the service. He also invites her to participate in that weekend's commencement activities.
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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.
