Basketball enthusiasts will want to check out this online exhibit, courtesy of the University of Kansas Library, that celebrates the life and career of James Naismith. In addition to items from the University of Kansas, where Naismith spent most of his career, this exhibit includes items collected by McGill University, where Naismith earned a bachelor's degree in 1887, and from Springfield College (then known as the YMCA Training School), where Naismith completed a one year program to be a YMCA Physical Director. It was at Springfield College, where Naismith held his first faculty appointment, that basketball was born. As the site authors explain, Naismith was "[u]rged by Luther Halsey Gulick, the college's superintendent of the physical department, to create a new indoor game 'that would be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play in the winter and by artificial light.'" On this website, visitors can browse archives by institution or by a timeline of Naismith's life. Featured items include a photograph of the gymnasium that hosted the world's first game of basketball, a photograph of Naismith's McGill football team, and news clippings from the 1936 Olympics, the first to feature basketball.
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