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3 pages
Dec 1, 1891
Original hand-written draft of the intial rules of basketball as devised by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was given...
/ Original hand-written draft of the intial rules of basketball as devised by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was given the task of creating a safe, easy to learn indoor game for his physical education class primarily comprised of rugby and football (soccer) players. After unsuccessfully attempting to modify existing games, Naismith set out to create an entirely new game. His main criteria being that the game must be simple and easy to learn.
1 issues
1891-1891
Original hand-written draft of the intial rules of basketball as devised by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was given...
/ Original hand-written draft of the intial rules of basketball as devised by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was given the task of creating a safe, easy to learn indoor game for his physical education class primarily comprised of rugby and football (soccer) players. After unsuccessfully attempting to modify existing games, Naismith set out to create an entirely new game. His main criteria being that the game must be simple and easy to learn.
63 issues
1891-1896
Physical Education was first published as The Triangle by the students in the Physical Department of the Y.M.C.A. Training School...
/ Physical Education was first published as The Triangle by the students in the Physical Department of the Y.M.C.A. Training School in February 1891. Dr. Luther Gulick served as President, James Naismith, editor, and F. N. Seerley, Business Manager. The game of Basketball was introduced in the Triangle in the January 15, 1892 edition (Vol. 1, No. 10, p. 144-147) in a four-page article written by James Naismith and included the original 13 rules. Contributing authors included notables in the field such as H. Kallenberg, R. Tait McKenzie, and Amos Alonzo Stagg, E. Hitchcock, Amy Morriss Homans, Dudley Sargent, and William Anderson. The magazine had editorials, book reviews, ‘unobjectionable’ advertisements, and articles about baseball, football, gymnastics, volleyball, exercise, ethics of sport, changes in the official basketball rules, physical training for those with disabilities, physical education for women, and influential figures. By March 1892, the name of the journal was changed from Triangle to Physical Education. The last issue was published in July 1896.
1 pages
Sep 1, 1892
Basketball's first advertisement in Y.M.C.A.'s September 1892 Physical Education magazine....
/ Basketball's first advertisement in Y.M.C.A.'s September 1892 Physical Education magazine.
5 pages
Jan 15, 1892
Published just a month after the first basketball game was played in December 1891, this January 1892 issue of the...
/ Published just a month after the first basketball game was played in December 1891, this January 1892 issue of the YMCA's The Triangle magazine announces the article on the cover, which directs the reader to page 144 and the historic understatement, "We present to our readers a new game of ball, which seems to have those elements in it which ought to make it popular among the Associations." James Naismith's four-page article includes a fine drawing of that first game, his list of the thirteen Original Rules and fascinating insights into the sport's early development.
2 issues
1892-1893
“Basketball Rules” is a small document that was written by James Naismith, the Father of Basketball, and that was published...
/ “Basketball Rules” is a small document that was written by James Naismith, the Father of Basketball, and that was published by The Triangle Publishing Co. This booklet explains how to set up a basketball court and lists the game’s twenty-one rules (an increase from his original thirteen rules published the previous year in the magazine “Physical Education”). Dr. James Naismith first explains why it was created, who the game is intended for, and the rules by which it should be played. In the original set of rules, the game was intended for games of 9 vs. 9, but it is stressed that the game can accommodate as many as space will allow. Dr. Naismith then details the original thirteen rules of basketball, which are still the foundation of basketball today.
1 issues
1892-1892
Published just a month after the first basketball game was played in December 1891, this January 1892 issue of the...
/ Published just a month after the first basketball game was played in December 1891, this January 1892 issue of the YMCA's The Triangle magazine announces the article on the cover, which directs the reader to page 144 and the historic understatement, "We present to our readers a new game of ball, which seems to have those elements in it which ought to make it popular among the Associations." James Naismith's four-page article includes a fine drawing of that first game, his list of the thirteen Original Rules and fascinating insights into the sport's early development.
4 pages
Mar 1, 1894
Article from Physical Education, March and April, 1894 discussing the differences between the role of the referee and the umpire....
/ Article from Physical Education, March and April, 1894 discussing the differences between the role of the referee and the umpire.
1 issues
1894-1894
This book, "Basket Ball", was written by Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Luther Gulick in 1894 for Spalding's Athletic Library....
/ This book, "Basket Ball", was written by Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Luther Gulick in 1894 for Spalding's Athletic Library. In the book, Naismith and Gulick introduce why the game was created, and who it is intended for. In addition, they explain where the game should be played, some strategies and plays, and even give a diagram of positions for both a 5-man team and a 9-man team. The last part of the book details the, at that time, 21 rules of basketball, which was an upgrade from the original 13 rules that Dr. Naismith come up with just two years before.
1 issues
1894-1894
Four page document, containing copies of a letter written by a captain of the Springfield College basketball teams in 1894....
/ Four page document, containing copies of a letter written by a captain of the Springfield College basketball teams in 1894. Each captain writes a response to challenges for supremacy in the game by agreeing to meet for matches to determine the best team. Slam poetry ensues in response to the call for matches, perhaps the first documented trash talking in basketball. The captains were Dr. James Naismith (the creator of the game of Basketball), Albert B. Chase, Edwin P. Ruggles, and W. V. Dinman.
1 issues
1894-1894
Article from Physical Education, March and April, 1894 discussing the differences between the role of the referee and the umpire....
/ Article from Physical Education, March and April, 1894 discussing the differences between the role of the referee and the umpire.
1 issues
1895-1895
Scorebook from early basketball games played in 1895 at the YMCA under guidance from Dr. James Naismith...
/ Scorebook from early basketball games played in 1895 at the YMCA under guidance from Dr. James Naismith
1 issues
1930-1930
This is a pamphlet titled, "Fundamentals of Basketballs" written by Dr. James Naismith and published by the Rawlings Manufacturing Co....
/ This is a pamphlet titled, "Fundamentals of Basketballs" written by Dr. James Naismith and published by the Rawlings Manufacturing Co. It is partially a promotional document for "Rawlings-Naismith Official Basketballs". There is an endorsement statement and an advertisement in the back. The rest of the 24 page pamphlet is a description of basketball, a listing of attributes that can be developed by playing the game, advice on how to play the game, and how basketball is used in various classes, school levels and organizations. The pamphlet is undated. Dated references within the pamphlet end around 1909, suggesting it may have been produced shortly after this time. However, the basketballs in the book are much newer than that. The Rawlings Facebook page shows an advertisement for the AXS and AXL Naismith Signature basketballs - the same ones shown in this booklet. Naismith's image in the booklet matches the one in this advertisement. This places the actual date of this booklet confidently around 1930.
1 issues
1941-1941
The writing of the origin and development of basketball, forty-three years after its invention, Naismith has given little space to...
/ The writing of the origin and development of basketball, forty-three years after its invention, Naismith has given little space to technical aspects of the game; but rather wrote the book in an attempt to answer a number of questions. Naismith called on men from all parts of the world for some of the information in the text of the book.
9 pages
1959
This binder contains architectural sketches of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Produced in 1959 by...
/ This binder contains architectural sketches of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Produced in 1959 by the architecture and engineering firm Munson & Mallis, Inc., the sketches show the building’s proposed floor plan and exterior. The last page has a photograph of the International YMCA Training School’s (now Springfield College) first basketball team sitting with their instructor, James Naismith. The Basketball Hall of Fame was first located on the campus of Springfield College, where several thousand visitors flocked to visit. In 1959, despite the absence of a physical structure to call home, the Basketball Hall of Fame was incorporated and its first class of inductees was announced. The institution officially opened its doors to the public on February 17, 1968.