Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center

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]

Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center
Exterior of the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center
Location within Texas
LocationBeaumont, Texas
Coordinates30.096719°N 94.114125°W / 30.096719; -94.114125
TypeSports museum
Websitewww.babedidriksonzaharias.org?page_id=72

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 two gold medals and a silver medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and excelled in basketball, golf, and track and field.[6][8] 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. "The Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitors Center". Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum Foundation. Archived from the original on 2015-12-19. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  2. "Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center". Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  3. "Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitors Center". Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. "Beaumont: Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitors Center". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. McLeod, Gerald E. (February 16, 2007). "Day Trips: The Babe Zaharias Museum is a tribute to one of the greatest female athletes of all time, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  6. Moffatt, Lori (November 2015). "10 Things to Do: Beaumont". Texas Highways. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  7. "Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias". Humanities Texas. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  8. "Mildred Didrikson". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
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