YMCA Springfield, Mass.
Y.M.C.A., Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball | Postmarked Oct 5, 1911 | Postcard
In 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, invented the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. The game soon spread around the world. It was first introduced to African Americans on a wide scale, organized basis in 1904, the year the game’s first basketball how-to-play book was published by A.G. Spalding & Bros., then the leading supplier of athletic equipment.
