Luther Gulick Playground

Columbia St, Delancey St and Bialystoker Pl

Manhattan, 10002

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Luther Halsey Gulick, III (1865-1918) was an educator, reformer, and community leader who is best remembered as the “Godfather of Basketball.” As a physical education director at the Springfield, Massachusetts Young Men’s Christian Association, he challenged colleague James Naismith in the autumn of 1891 to concoct a game that could be played indoors during the winter months. On December 21 of that year, Naismith presented Gulick with a soccer ball and two peach baskets, and the game of basketball was born. In 1959, Gulick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for his role as a “contributor” to the sport.