A Spalding Guide

[Student basketball players of the
National Training School for Women
and Girls, Washington D.C.]
ca. [1900-1920]
Prints & Photographs Division (209.3)

Spalding Guides were published for more than 50 years. Volumes exist for almost every sport and athletic endeavor. They functioned as manuals of playing techniques, surveys of the previous year's sporting achievements, and are a valuable resource for studying the development of athletic equipment. This issue covers women's basketball. Developed by Dr. James Naismith in 1891 as an indoor sport, basketball's initial noncontact nature made the game particularly appealing to women. Schools like the National Training School for Women and Girls, founded in 1909 by Nannie Helen Burroughs helped the sport gain popularity.