Biography
Lyman Walker Archibald was born on July 3, 1868, at Pleasant Valley, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was among five children of William and Jane Williamson Archibald.
Lyman's father and generations before him were farmers and lumberjacks in the winter upon the family's arrival from Ireland. Archibald left school at 16 years old and spent two years of farming before he became a clerk at a large general county store. He then left Canada, moving to Rhode Island where he farmed for six months, before learning the machinist trade.
After three years in this business, he returned to Nova Scotia and took up a position with the branch of the YMCA there. He was offered the position of General Secretary in a small town but refused due to his concern that he was not prepared for the position. However, at the urging of his boss at the YMCA, he agreed to attend the International YMCA Training School, now Springfield College, in Springfield, MA to prepare himself for the position.
Archibald arrived in Springfield in the fall of 1891. While at the school, Archibald distinguished himself as an excellent athlete. He played alongside his instructor James Naismith and William Morgan, inventor of volleyball, on the team's football team's offensive line under the tutelage of coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, considered by many as the father of modern football. Playing left-tackle, Archibald and his teammates excelled against some of the best teams in the country, despite their small size both physically and in numbers. This team was known as "Stagg's Eleven" and "The Stubby Christians", and competed against powerhouses such as Harvard and Yale.
To the left is a recap of a game against Williams College, which Archibald and Naismith are acknowledged for their excellent play in a win.
Archibald's athletic prowess was not limited to football. He also received a silver medal at the school's semi-annual pentathlon. Archibald was not only a participant in the first basketball game but played in one of the first games open to the public, until recently, regarded as the first public game ever played.
To see a summary of the game, click here.
Upon graduation from the International YMCA Training School in 1893, Archibald became General Secretary at the St. Stephen, New Brunswick, YMCA in Canada.
Archibald took the invention of basketball with him to St. Stephen, as several other original players brought the sport to different areas in Canada. To learn more about the oldest existing gymnasium where basketball was played, click here!
This would spark a successful 27-year career serving as general secretary and physical director for various branches of the Association, predominantly in Canada.
Eventually, he returned to the United States and became, alongside his son Gerry Archibald, a prosperous fox breeder in Warren, Pennsylvania.
Lyman Walker Archibald died of a heart attack on Nov. 10, 1947, on the family farm in Warren, PA at the age of 79. He remains are buried in Oakland Cemetery in Warren. There is another headstone for him in SnyderCemetery in Warren.