Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center
Exterior of the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center
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 Location within Texas
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| Location | Beaumont, Texas |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Type | Sports museum |
| Website | babedidriksonzaharias |
The Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center is a museum dedicated to Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias that is located in Beaumont, Texas.[1][2][3][4] Fronting on Interstate 10, it is freely open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.[1] The museum consists largely of trophies and awards that Zaharias accumulated during her career, as well as memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and photographs.[2][3][5][6] The museum also functions as a visitor center for Beaumont.[4] Money raised by the museum helps fund scholarships for female students at Lamar University.[7]
Described by George E. McLeod as "a big trophy case",[5] the museum prominently features a silver cup trophy that Zaharias won at a meet in Chicago in 1932, as well as her three medals from the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The museum also showcases a set of her golf clubs. More of her trophies are on display at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course's clubhouse in Tampa, Florida.[5]
Born in Port Arthur in 1911, Zaharias was perhaps the world's premier female athlete from the 1930s to the 1950s; she won three gold medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and excelled in basketball, golf, and track and field.[6] In basketball, she was a three-time All-American.[3] She also competed in sports as diverse as billiards, bowling, diving, and roller skating.[6]
In 1950, Zaharias helped to found the Ladies Professional Golf Association along with her husband, the wrestler George Zaharias.[7] The couple also founded the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Foundation, which continues to help fund cancer research and support women's athletics as well as the museum.[5] In 1956, Babe Didrikson Zaharias died suddenly of colon cancer at the age of 45; she was buried in Beaumont, which honors her with an annual golf tournament in addition to the museum.[6][7] The Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau has described her as both the "world’s greatest female athlete" and as the region's "hometown legend".[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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