James Naismith's Original Rules of Basket Ball
In 1891, James Naismith, a YMCA physical education instructor in Springfield, Mass. developed the new game of “Basket Ball” to keep his students active indoors. The typed and annotated rules formed the foundation for today’s game but were also different in many ways (dribbling had not yet been introduced).
Suzanne and David Booth, friends of The University of Texas at Austin, recently purchased the original rules and are sharing them with the university community for the next year. The rules will be on display at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Oct. 28 through Jan. 29, 2012 and again at the university’s Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports next year.