1900's Sports | Fundamentals of Basketball

Handbook

By: James Naismith

Date: c. 1909

Source: Naismith, James. Fundamentals of Basketball. St. Louis, Mo.: Rawlings Manufacturing Co., c. 1909.

About the Author: James Naismith (1861–1939) was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. His parents died when he was eight, and he was raised by his uncle. While a student at the Y.M.C.A. training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, while also serving as its director of physical education, Naismith was assigned to invent a game to occupy athletes during the winter. The resulting game, basketball, became widely popular, but its originator was largely unrecognized until just a few years before his death.

Introduction

In the late nineteenth century, sports flourished primarily when they could be played outdoors. Thus, although spring, summer, and fall had baseball, lacrosse, soccer, and football, there was no...