Senda Berenson Abbot, ca. 1898 Unknown American photographer: cyanotype: ca. 1897-99. “Miss Berenson” (Senda Berenson Abbott: 1868-1954), known as the ‘’Mother of Women’s Basketball” Berenson was first hired as a gymnastics instructor at Smith College before becoming the Director of the Gymnasium and Instructor of Physical Culture there, adapting the first rules of women’s basketball in 1892. The game had been invented less than a year earlier by James Naismith in nearby Springfield, Mass. By 1899, Berenson had codified her rules for the women’s game, and in 1901, they were published in the volume “Basket Ball for Women” by Spalding’s Athletic Library. From: PhotoSeed Archive via Photoseed Blog