"Babe" Didrikson

Object Details

Artist: Harry Warnecke, 1900 - 1984; Robert F. Cranston, 26 Jul 1897 - 1978; Gus Schoenbaechler, active 1940s–1950s
Sitter: Mildred Didrikson Zaharias, 26 Jun 1911 - 28 Sep 1956

Exhibition Label: Born Port Arthur, Texas; Perhaps no athlete has excelled at more sports than did Babe Didrikson. She caught the public’s attention when she won two gold medals during the 1932 Summer Olympic Games—in the javelin throw and eighty-meter hurdles. She then became a professional athlete, competing in basketball, baseball, swimming, lacrosse, soccer, handball, fencing, cycling, and ice skating. During this period, she famously declared, “The Babe is here. Who’s coming in second?”; Didrikson started playing golf in 1933, and in 1947 she became the only American woman to win the British amateur crown. In 1948, she helped to organize the Ladies Professional Golf Association. In professional women’s golf, she won eighty-two tournaments, including fourteen in a row. Named Woman Athlete of the Year six times by the Associated Press, Didrikson was a pioneer in women’s sports. She remains one of the United States’ greatest all-around athletes.

August 13, 1947

Medium: Carbro print
Dimensions: Image: 41.4 × 31.4 cm (16 5/16 × 12 3/8"); Sheet: 46.2 × 36.1 cm (18 3/16 × 14 3/16"); Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Exterior; Nature & Environment\Plant\Tree; Nature & Environment\Plant\Grass; Costume\Hair Accessory\Barrette; Equipment\Sports Equipment\Golf Club; Mildred Didrikson Zaharias: Female; Mildred Didrikson Zaharias: Sports\Athlete; Mildred Didrikson Zaharias: Sports\Athlete\Golfer; Mildred Didrikson Zaharias: Athletics awards\Olympic medal; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm49d81a2a5-7c00-40b2-be37-5461a16d74aa