Rare Book Collection:
History & Evolution of Sport

Size: 51 shelves, approximately 1,400 volumes (1,433 count – this includes the Sports Illustrated run that comprises 10 shelves/126 vol.)

Summary: Springfield College is the “Birthplace of Basketball’” because of James Naismith’s role in the formation of the sport while an instructor at the College when it was a YMCA training school. As you would expect, the materials on Basketball are deep, but they reside within a larger sphere of materials on the History & Evolution of Sport that encompasses the growth in games, recreation for individuals, the development of team sports, and the rise of the Amateur Sports movement, including the Olympics. Examples include rare and foundational sporting periodicals like Wilkes Spirit of the Times (1859-1902) and Baily’s Magazine (1860-1894); a broad array of NCAA and AAU manuals, rules, proceedings and yearbooks; and an interesting cross-section of Olympic memorabilia.