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September 30, 2010

网曝门鈥檚 Tarbutton digital collection enhanced

Officials at the University of Louisiana at Monroe Library Special Collections received a personal scrapbook on Friday, Sept. 24, brimming with details about the history-making career of Coach Edna 鈥淭iny鈥� Tarbutton, who helped place the tiny northeastern Louisiana town of Baskin on the women鈥檚 basketball map after an incredible 218-game winning streak that set records yet to be broken.

William J. Kramberg, Tarbutton鈥檚 nephew and also a 网曝门 alum, donated the scrapbook along with other personal items belonging to his aunt, including Tarbutton鈥檚 2005 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Trophy, for research purposes. Tarbutton attended 网曝门 (formerly Northeast Louisiana University) for two years before completing her degree at then-Normal College in Natchitoches. She ended her coaching career in 1977 with a record of 654-263-2. The team鈥檚 218 consecutive victories were between 1947 and 1953, and eight consecutive state championships were achieved between 1948 and 1955.

Tarbutton died in 2009 in West Monroe at the age of 87, following her retirement at the end of a 33-year coaching career that was spent entirely at Baskin High School.

鈥淭hese items representing Coach Tarbutton鈥檚 victories greatly enhance our research capacity and adds to the three collections now in the digital library,鈥� said Cynthia Robertson, 网曝门鈥檚 special collections coordinator. 鈥淭his donation is not only of local and regional interest, but also national in scope.鈥�

Robertson said for the avid researcher the items complement the current Tarbutton collection at the library, and she thanked Kramberg for traveling from Houston to make the contribution that will help tell an important story in the history of women鈥檚 basketball in Louisiana. 网曝门鈥檚 Special Collection archives is the only such research repository in northeast Louisiana and its growing digital collection has been supported by grant funding.

网曝门 Coach Mona Martin shared with a packed room, which included former players coached by Tarbutton, about the evolving history of women鈥檚 athletics, especially women鈥檚 basketball, since Tarbutton first took her team to championship levels in the late 1940s and 1950s.

鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way,鈥� said Martin. 鈥淭he game has changed tremendously from conditioning, strength training, the size of the ball, the three-point line and most importantly, the ability to get a great education and play professionally ... The history of the sport is filled with women who have opened the door for today鈥檚 great athletes. Coach Tarbutton was a big part of that.鈥�

Martin introduced Frances Lyles, a former Tarbutton player who eventually went on to a coaching career of her own, and who was visibly moved by Friday鈥檚 ceremony honoring the memory of her mentor as she described being a sharecropper鈥檚 daughter who attended college through Tarbutton鈥檚 support.

鈥淪he was really like our mother,鈥� said Lyles, as several other women in the audience nodded in agreement. 鈥淪he was content to walk in our shadows 鈥� little did she know she was the wind beneath our wings.鈥�

Lyles read the words of a Baskin English teacher at the time the team was on their winning streak, describing in precise detail the hushed silence and respect the young women commanded from the time they entered the high school gym for a game, wearing their washed and polished white canvass Converse shoes, starched uniforms and socks that were either gold-topped, if the game was at home, or purple-topped, if the game was away.

鈥淲e were to set a good example for our schools, as well as for ourselves,鈥� said Lyles. 鈥淪he would accept nothing less ... We were taught 鈥榠f you can dream it, you can achieve it.鈥欌��

网曝门 Interim President Stephen Richters kicked off the ceremony by welcoming the many out-of-town visitors and thanking Robertson and Dean of the Library Don Smith for their efforts in making the collection so unique.

鈥淵ou know Coach Tarbutton touched so many lives,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was blown away by her achievements. At any level of athletics, to be that consistent, deserves recognition.鈥�

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