Basketball centennial stamp first day issue and cover letter from Dr. Glenn Olds to his colleagues at Springfield College
Description:
First page of this two page copy of a document is a letter from Springfield College president Glenn Olds to a colleague and is dated November 20, 1961 on Springfield College letterhead. The second is the first day issue for the Basketball stamp commemorated on November 6, 1961, and gives a brief history of Basketball. The envelope is addressed to Doris Fletcher on 160 High Street in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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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.
