This document contains three hand-written pages and two typed pages. The typed pages are titled, “Biographical encyclopaedia,” and they describe the following aspects of James Naismith’s life: education, career, membership in societies, social and honor fraternities, military activities, civic societies, genealogy, honors, and athletics. The typed pages appear to be a more organized version of the first three hand-written pages. Who created this biographical information is not known.
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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.
The item is a photocopy of the original. It is not known where the original is.
