James Naismith was born November 6, 1861 in Ramsay Township, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada and died November 28, 1939 in Lawrence, Kansas. He was the son of John Naismith, born in Glasgow, Scotland (1833-1870) and Margaret Young (1833-1870), who John met after migrating to Lanark County, Ontario.
James had two siblings, Annie and Robert Young Naismith, and attended grade school at Bennies Corner near Almonte. By the age of twelve both of his parents and his maternal grandmother died. Although James left high school for a time, he eventually got into McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) where, in 1883, at the age of 22, he got a B.A. in physical education. He played rugby, lacrosse, football and ground gymnastics. He became McGill's Athletic Director.
In 1887, James entered Presbyterian College of Theology in Montreal, where he received a diploma in 1890. That year, he left Montreal for Springfield, Massachusetts.
 |
| Maude E. Sherman - James' Wife |
 |
| Univ. of Kansas 1899 |
Hoopmedia noted: "Naismith was a humanitarian who cared deeply about the well-being of others. He was a minister who regularly spoke to civic organizations later in life. He was a doctor by degree, although he never actually practiced medicine. He was a physical education instructor who lived by the credo 'a sound mind is a sound body.'
"As a teen, Naismith worked as a lumberjack, but eventually he became a Presbyterian minister. At a time when he should have been contemplating retirement, the 55-year-old Naismith volunteered for the Kansas National Guard and served a short term of duty as a chaplain during the 1916 Mexican border war against Pancho Villa. And that was after he invented the football helmet. Basketball was only one piece of Naismith's colorful life.
"Naismith always felt his mission was to improve the way people lived their lives, both athletically and socially. He earned a degree in religion from Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Montreal in 1890, but was never affiliated with a church because he wanted to combine his love of sports with his religious interests. In 1939, he was honored with a Doctor of Divinity degree from Presbyterian.
"Although Naismith was particularly productive while in Massachusetts--inventing basketball in 1891 and the football helmet during the same period--he didn't rest on his laurels. He left Springfield in 1895 and traveled to Colorado, where he studied medicine at Gross Medical School and served as physical education director at the Denver YMCA. In 1898, Naismith moved to Kansas and embarked on a 39-year career as professor of physical education and chaplain at the University of Kansas. Ironically, the inventor of basketball is the only coach in Kansas men's history with a losing record (55-60).
"While Naismith did not benefit financially from his invention, he was afforded a glimpse of the game's potential appeal in 1936 when he attended the Berlin Olympics, where basketball was played as a medal sport for the first time. Naismith was flown to Berlin to watch the games and threw in the first ball.
"One popular historical textbook in 1995 listed Naismith as the fourth (of 100) most influential sports figures in America in the 20th century. If Naismith were alive to hear what he would consider nonsensical banter, he would laugh and wonder what all the fuss was about."
In 1937 James Naismith became Professor Emeritus in Kansas and received the Legum Doctorate Degree at McGill University. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the Presbyterian College in Montreal.
In November 1939, Naismith suffered a brain hemorrhage and subsequent heart attack. He was 78 years old. He was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.
