Lake View East in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
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"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias
The Legacy Walk
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021
1. "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Marker
Inscription.
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias. The Legacy Walk.
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Bisexual U.S. Gold Medal Winning Olympic Athlete (1911 - 1956), . Babe Didrikson’s contributions to women’s competitive athletics were unprecedented. She held national, Olympic and World records in track and field; led her team to two national championships in basketball; toured with all-male exhibition baseball teams; competed admirably in swimming, diving and bowling; and was the largest money winner in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) during her lifetime. At the 1932 Olympics, she entered three events (the limit for women at the time) and won two gold-medals plus a “gold-silver” medal in the high-jump – the only one awarded in Olympic history. Because of her androgynous look and rough manners, she was hounded by vicious press that labeled her a “Third Sex,” and a “muscle moll.” She loathed these charges and manipulated the media to reconstruct her image as she saw fit. Didrikson married professional wrestler George Zaharias in 1938. When she met a young golfer named Betty Dodd in 1950 they also became emotionally and physically intimate. The three lived together from 1950-56 in a tense, strained, and awkward liaison – a public life engineered to insulate a private one in which Didrikson and Dodd were the actual “couple.” Didrikson retreated from the more “masculine” sports of track and field to the acceptably feminine – and upper-middle class – world of golf. She joined with five other women to found the LPGA, and continued to dominate amateur and professional women’s golf for 18 years, winning most major titles – including 13 consecutive tournaments – and the first British Women’s Amateur Championship (1947). She was voted “Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year” – six times – as well as “Woman Athlete of the Half-Century”. An uncompromising competitor, she believed in winning at all costs and sacrificed her body to do so. Her greatest challenge was her fight against colon cancer, which she lost on September 27, 1956, at the age of 45, with Dodd at her side. Babe Didrikson’s extraordinary combination of fierce competitiveness and unwavering discipline in the pursuit of athletic perfection emboldened many women athletes to defy convention and redefine female athletic “norms,” preparing the way for Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova who would follow her a generation later.
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias
Bisexual U.S. Gold Medal Winning Olympic Athlete
(1911 - 1956)
Babe Didrikson’s contributions to women’s competitive athletics were unprecedented. She held national, Olympic and World records in track and field; led her team to two national championships in basketball; toured with all-male exhibition baseball teams; competed admirably in swimming, diving and bowling; and was the largest money winner in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) during her lifetime. At the 1932 Olympics, she entered three events (the limit for women at the time) and won two gold-medals plus a “gold-silver” medal in the high-jump – the only one awarded in Olympic history. Because of her androgynous look and rough manners, she was hounded by vicious press that labeled her a “Third Sex,” and a “muscle moll.” She loathed these charges and manipulated the media to reconstruct her image as she saw fit. Didrikson married professional wrestler George Zaharias in 1938. When she met a young golfer named Betty Dodd in 1950 they also became emotionally and physically intimate. The three lived together from 1950-56
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in a tense, strained, and awkward liaison – a public life engineered to insulate a private one in which Didrikson and Dodd were the actual “couple.” Didrikson retreated from the more “masculine” sports of track and field to the acceptably feminine – and upper-middle class – world of golf. She joined with five other women to found the LPGA, and continued to dominate amateur and professional women’s golf for 18 years, winning most major titles – including 13 consecutive tournaments – and the first British Women’s Amateur Championship (1947). She was voted “Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year” – six times – as well as “Woman Athlete of the Half-Century”. An uncompromising competitor, she believed in winning at all costs and sacrificed her body to do so. Her greatest challenge was her fight against colon cancer, which she lost on September 27, 1956, at the age of 45, with Dodd at her side. Babe Didrikson’s extraordinary combination of fierce competitiveness and unwavering discipline in the pursuit of athletic perfection emboldened many women athletes to defy convention and redefine female athletic “norms,” preparing the way for Billie
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021
2. "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Marker - wide view
The marker is visible here on the rainbow pylon on the left, which it shares with the marker for Dr. Margaret Chung.
Jean King and Martina Navratilova who would follow her a generation later.
Erected 2014 by The Legacy Project.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Sports • Women. In addition, it is included in the The Legacy Walk series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 27, 1956.
Location. Marker has been permanently removed. It was located near 41° 56.652′ N, 87° 38.97′ W. Marker was in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It was in Lake View East. It was on North Halsted Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 3418 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL 60657, United States of America.
We have been informed that this marker is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.
Regionally, this marker was in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it was in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
courtesy of the National Museum of American History/Smithsonian Institution, 1932
3. "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Marker
Paper postcard from the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics with a black and white photograph of Babe Didrikson standing on the podium before receiving her gold medal in the 80 m hurdles, the silver and bronze medalists are also present...
"Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (née Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics, before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time."
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 31, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 597 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 31, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
