Biography
Dr. Edwin Pakenham Ruggles was born on January 5, 1873, in Milton MA, a suburb just south of Boston. His parents were Thomas E. and Harriott W. Murray Ruggles.
Ruggles assisted his Yale-educated father on the family farm throughout his youth, right up until he graduated high school.
Although he had never been a member of a YMCA, Ruggles heard about the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) through the news of its football games.
This, coupled with his Christian upbringing, let him to Springfield in the Fall of 1891.
Ruggles became quite involved at the school, serving as president of a club, and excelling in athletics.
He played left tackle in football on the infamous "Stagg's Eleven" team the Training School became well known for. Among the members of that formidable offensive line were his classmates Frank Mahan and Thomas Patton, as well as Dr. James Naismith, their future instructor.
Ruggles was not only a participant in the first basketball game on Dec. 21, 1891, but a member of the school's championship team often referred to as "The First Team."
On March 11, 1892, more than 200 spectators watched a highly anticipated match between the students and teachers of the International Training School. The students won the game 5-1 largely due to Ruggles' contribution of four points.
An article from the "Springfield Student" in 1924 described Ruggles and his "specialty one-handed shots." He is said to have handled a ball in the same manner 'Hot' Haggerty did.
Haggerty, a Springfield, Massachusetts native who attended Central High School, was a member of the Original Celtics and known for his superb control of the ball. This speaks to Ruggles' mastery of the sport immediately after its creation.
Upon graduating from Springfield, Ruggles went on to have a successful military and medical career.
He joined the staff of the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in 1903 and became chief obstetrician at the hospital and professor emeritus of obstetrics at Boston University School of Medicine.
Ruggles also held the rank of first lieutenant in the medical corps in World War I.
At the time of his death on June 19, 1940, at the age of 67, Ruggles was a consulting physician at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital and professor emeritus at Boston University Medical School.