Receipt for "basket ball" purchase (1896)

This is a receipt for the purchase of four "Basket balls"by Springfield College (then known as International YMCA Training School). Luther Gulick, the superintendent in charge of the Physical Department purchased them. The receipt was from Overman Wheel Company, where the basketballs were purchased. It can be seen that at that time, basketball was called "basket ball". The price of one basketball was $3.25 and the total price was $13.00. The purchase was likely made on February 4, 1896 and the receipt was received on May 4, 1896.Luther Gulick came to the School for Christian Workers, now Springfield College, in 1887 where he helped found the physical training department and served as its first director. Gulick also created the Springfield College's seal, the inverted triangle, whose three sides represent the whole man - in spirit, mind and body. The symbol was first adopted by the school's students in 1891. Later, it was adopted by the YMCA and is still the basis for the symbol they use today. While at Springfield, Gulick directed James Naismith, who was a teacher at the school, to create a winter sport to be played indoors. Soon after, Naismith created the game of basketball. Gulick left Springfield College in 1900 to work as the physical education director at the Pratt Institute High School in Brooklyn. In 1910, Gulick and his wife Charlotte founded the Camp Fire Girls of America, a youth movement for girls which emphasized camping, outdoor activities and preparing women for work outside the home. Gulick died at his summer home in Maine at the age of 52