Letter from Frank A. Wolcott to SC president Mary-Beth Cooper (January 1, 2015)

Item Information

Title:
Letter from Frank A. Wolcott to SC president Mary-Beth Cooper (January 1, 2015)
Description:
A copy of six pages of a hand-written letter from Frank A. Wolcott to Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper. The letter is hand-written and was dated January 1, 2015. Only pages 4 to 9 of the complete letter are shown here. In the letter Wolcott tells the story of how he came upon the bricks that he gathered from the basement of the Springfield College's Original School Building where the game of basketball was created and first played. This is so that she would know the story of where the brick that he gave her came from. Also mentioned in the letter is a bit of his own biography and some of the story of volleyball. The building has been known by many different names over the years including the Winchester Square Building, the Mason Square building and the Armory Hill building. Construction on the building was completed in the spring of 1886 and it was dedicated on June 1 of that year. The building consisted of a reading room, gymnasium, parlor, a recitation room, an amusement room and fifty sleeping rooms. The Armory Hill YMCA also rented rooms in the building. In 1891 James Naismith, while a faculty member at the school, invented the game of basketball in the gymnasium of the building. In 1890 the School for Christian Workers separated into two schools which continued to operate out of the same building, the YMCA Training School and the School for Christian Workers. In 1896 the Training School, now Springfield College, finished the transition to its new location on Alden Street and in 1897 the School for Christian Workers became the Bible Normal College and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. The original building was torn down in 1965 to create a parking lot. In 1995, McDonald’s Corporation bought the land, excavating the original foundation and bricks before building a restaurant on the site. Today, there is a monument commemorating the site as the birthplace of basketball. Only the relevant pages of the full letter have been copied and placed within this folder. These are pages 4 thru 9. To view the full original letter and other materials supplied see the Office of the President Records Collection, Dr. Mary Beth Copper Records or Frank A. Wolcott's Faculty File (copy).
Creator:
Wolcott, Frank A.
Date:
January 1, 2015
Format:
Documents
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
College Archives Digital Collections
Subjects:
Basketball--History
Original School Building
Springfield College
Springfield College--Buildings
Wolcott, Frank A.
Cooper, Mary-Beth
Springfield (Mass.)
Winchester Square
Mason Square
Basketball
Volleyball
Correspondence
Places:
Massachusetts > Hampden (county) > Springfield
Extent:
6 pages
Link to Item:
http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/34382
Terms of Use:
Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
Springfield College
Language:
English
Identifier:
rg111-01-05-002