Girls in their long, dark uniforms, students of the Sisters of Loretto Academy, were pictured on an old promotional post card, made when the school was located on 39th Street. The domed red brick school building is shown in the background. The card was mailed in September, 1906, from a Geneveve to her friend, Ethel Adams, Salina, Kansas, with a typical message from a young girl away at school: Dear Ethel: Why in the world don't you girls write to me? Lovingly, Geneveve. A lawn tennis court is shown at the left while a basketball court and players are on the right. Basketball was a comparatively new game at the time, having been invented in 1891 by James Naismith, a Canadian and a graduate of McGill University. Girls' basketball was first played by teachers of the Buckingham grade school of Springfield, Mass. One of the teachers was Maude Sherman, who later became Mrs. Naismith. Smith College students in 1892 were the first at a women's college to play basketball. The post card of the Loretto girls at play was published by the Southwest News Company, Kansas City, and was printed in Leipzig, Germany. Today Loretto Academy occupies a 38-acre site at 124th and Wornall Road. Kansas City Times, October 16, 1981.
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