George Draper Letter to William Morgan, 1932

George Draper Letter to William Morgan, 1932

Volleyball--History; International Young Men's Christian Association College; Springfield College; Springfield College--Alumni and alumnae;

Morgan, William G.; Volleyball; Inventors; Letters; Draper, George O.; Rules;

A copy of a letter from George Draper, head of Springfield College's, then the International YMCA College, Alumni Association, to William Morgan, Springfield College alum and inventor of volleyball, thanking him for donating pictures and copies of the first set of the rules of volleyball to Springfield College's Historical Library and asking for him to provide a description of how he came to develop the game. Morgan attended Springfield College (then the International YMCA Training School) from 1892-1894. Upon graduating, he headed to Maine to work as a physical director at the Auburn YMCA. After a year in Maine, Morgan took a position at the Holyoke YMCA in Holyoke, MA. During his time as a physical director in Holyoke, Morgan recognized the need to create a game that was less strenuous on the middle-aged patrons than basketball. He took concepts from both badminton and basketball and created volleyball, originally named "Mintonette." The first real volleyball game took place during a Physical Director's Conference in the East Gymnasium at Springfield College. It was then that the name was changed to volleyball at the suggestion of Dr. A.T. Halsted. Morgan left YMCA work in 1897.

February 26 1932

Mr. William G. Morgan
Lockport, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Morgan:

It was very nice of you to give our Historical Library the pictures and copies of the first set of rules. I wonder if we may not secure from you a description of the development of the origination of the game? We would like to use same together with a cut in one of the issues of the College at Springfield. Any interesting human incidents in connection with the early history of the game would be appreciated I am sure by all of our Alumni.
Thanking you for giving the material to the college I am,

Very Cordially,

GD:W

Processed;

Draper, George O.

Springfield College

1932-02-26

2012-03-15

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MS 511 William G. Morgan Papers

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