Date Original
1948-2013
Description
This collection contains programs, tickets, schedules, photographs, correspondence, printed ephemera, and diaries, that shed light on several Arkansas women who played professional basketball from 1948 through the 1970's. The collection also includes oral histories with Patricia Ann and Betty Lou Johnson, Leeona Eveans Overturf, Joan Rupp, and Linda Yearby.
Biographical/Historical Note
Before the Women's National Basketball Association, women's professional basketball players barnstormed the country playing and often defeating men’s teams. Players such as Hazel Walker, Patricia Ann and Betty Lou Johnson, Joan Rupp, Linda Yearby, and Leeone Evans became folk heroes to many high school and college players. In Arkansas, though, it was native Arkansans like Hazel Walker of Ashdown and Leeone Evans of Winthrop who stood out. Walker played three years for the All American Red Heads, and formed her own team, the Arkansas Travelers, in 1949. It was just one of many teams that existed from the 1930s to the 1980s. These are the teams that laid the foundation for the creation of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000646
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Women's Professional Basketball collection, MS.000646
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Women's Professional Basketball collection, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
