"Women in Blue & Gold" Debuts

October 2006--The newest digital collection, "Women in Blue and Gold: Marquette Women's Athletics 1975-2005," debuts October 16 as part of the Libraries' celebration of the University's 125th Anniversary and in conjunction with Wisconsin Archives Week.

The initial installment of 400 images documents all women's varsity sports during the mid-1980s seasons, as well as later seasons for a limited number of sports, including soccer and the co-ed rifle team.  On its debut, the collection documents the following sports and seasons:

• Basketball: 1986-92
• Cross-country: 1986-90
• Rifle: 1992-97
• Soccer: 1993 and 1994
• Tennis: 1986-95
• Track and field: 1987-89
• Volleyball: 1987-90

The project's goal is to feature at least one image of each athlete who participated on a varsity team for each year that she played, thereby creating a visual record of the hundreds of women who composed Marquette's women's intercollegiate athletics over 30 years since the passage of Title IX.  Additional images will be added each month with an anticipated 1,200 images in total.  The collection's Web site provides details on the project and its methodology, as well as a history of women's athletics at Marquette, both written by archivist, Michelle Sweetser.

The digitization project was made possible through the financial support of the M Club, an alumni group composed of former student athletes awarded varsity letters. Patrick J. Mulcahy (Bus. Adm. '70) explained that the organization "wanted to assist the University Archives in highlighting the many accomplishments of women's athletic programs during the University's 125th anniversary year."  The M Club has supported several other projects that preserve and enrich Marquette's athletic heritage.

"Women in Blue and Gold" joins another archival digital project unveiled for the 125th Anniversary--the complete collection (1915-1996) of the yearbook, The Hilltop.  Both Web sites include copyright information and instructions for ordering photo reproductions.

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