Born in Port Arthur, Texas, educated in Beaumont, Mildred Ella Didrickson demonstrated uncommon athletic ability at an early age. Nicknamed "Babe," she was at 19 a championship basketball player, playing forward for the Golden Cyclones women's basketball team, the national champs from 1930 to 1932. Babe also turned in an amazing performance at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles where she won two gold medals and a silver, breaking world records in the javelin toss, high jump, softball throw, and 80-meter hurdles. She was a multi-talented athlete with astounding natural ability. Besides playing semi-pro basketball and softball, Babe had a brief stint as a successful harmonica-playing stage entertainer before taking up golf in the 1930's. She took her first golf lesson in 1931 and won her first event in 1935, the River Crest Invitational in Forth Worth. Babe came from a working class background and was a tireless self-promoter. She delighted in the kind of publicity stunts which challenged the public's idea of women as the weaker sex. She pitched at spring training for the St. Louis Cardinals, held golf ball driving exhibitions with Gene Sarazen, played donkey-softball with an all-male, all-bearded touring softball team, sang and ran on a treadmill in a one-woman vaudeville-type show, and at one point even challenged the winning horse of the Kentucky Derby to a foot race. Babe picked up a second nickname, the "Texas Tomboy." While this behavior could be considered amusing, even charming, in a young girl, as Babe grew older she drew more and more disapproval for her "unwomanly" activities. She came to the painful realization that further success depended on recasting herself to conform to the acceptable notions of femininity of the time. In 1938, Babe met and married George Zaharias, a wealthy, well-known wrestler from 1932 until 1938, when he quit his career to manage Babe's career. Golf became her focus. Traditionally an elite sport, it was an acceptable place for her to excel athletically. If Babe needed golf, women's golf was in need of a superstar in 1943 when Babe regained her amateur status after a legal battle. She proceeded to revolutionize women's golf, setting a standard for play and attracting large purses which helped to legitimize it. Babe won 13 consecutive tournaments, and after turning pro in 1947 she helped to found the LPGA in 1950. During her professional career, she won 31 tournaments. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1953. After long and painful treatments, Babe returned to professional golf, winning the first tournament she entered. Babe eventually succumbed to cancer in 1956. She was a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame and was posthumously awarded the 1957 Bob Jones Award for distinguished sportsmanship.

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