Softballs. University of Iowa Women’s Softball Records [IWA1046], Iowa Women’s Archives. Includes: Gayle Blevins 300 career wins, 1987. Gayle Blevins 400 career wins, 1990. Team autographed NCAA Women’s College World Series ball, 1997.
From curator Dr. Jennifer Sterling:
Gayle Blevins was the head coach of the Iowa softball team from 1988-2010. Inducted into the University of Iowa Hall of Fame in 2016, Blevins led Iowa to 5 Big Ten regular season championships and 4 College World Series appearances. She compiled over 1,000 career wins and never coached a losing season during her 31-year collegiate coaching career, which also included Indiana University from 1980-1987.
Blevins donated her collection of softball photographs and artifacts to the Iowa Women’s Archives in 2011. A box full of commemorative softballs included in the collection has always been one of my favorites to have students engage with when we visit the archives. The softballs were items I knew I wanted to include in the exhibit from the start. Contributions such as Blevins’, along with fellow coaches Lark Birdsong (women’s basketball) and Terttu “Tepa” Haronoja (women’s gymnastics) help make ongoing research on the history of women’s sports at Iowa possible.