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Luther Halsey Gulick is often referred to as the father of physical education and recreation in the United States. The founder and first director of the Springfield College physical department, it was Gulick who directed Naismith to create a winter…

Dr. Luther Gulick, the founder and first director of the physical department at Springfield College, is in the center holding calipers. Gulick’s philosophy of training the whole man, in body, mind and spirit, was one of the reasons that Naismith…

James Naismith provided ocular tests to all students with the ocular set pictured. The set is now on loan from the University Archives to the Booth Family Hall of Athletics in Allen Field House.

A page from the James Naismith scrapbook compiled by University Library staff and located in the University Archives. Note the article on the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The 1936 Olympics was the first time that basketball was played as an official…

Dr. Naismith kept careful records concerning the physical development of students at KU. This sheet shows detailed measurements of arms, legs, shoulders, etc.

Dr. Naismith’s faculty appointment cards from 1898 through 1939. Note the leave of absence from 1917 through 1919 for service in France during World War I. He was asked by the YMCA to study moral conditions among the troops and to develop a program…

Dr. Naismith wrote speeches, essays and articles on a variety of topics including the interrelation of high school and college athletics, swimming, and the development of character through athletics. Here is an example of one of his publications.

Dr. Naismith instructing the women’s fencing team. Photograph from the Dec. 1936 Jayhawker yearbook

Dr. Naismith as captain and Chaplain of the First Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Infantry, 1916. He was sent to serve in the Mexican Border War for 4 months and worked to protect soldiers from involvement with prostitutes and other vices.