Carol Eckman Papers

Collection — Container: Box 1

Identifier: 046

Staff Only

This collection is divided into seven series: Personal Papers/Information, Photographs, Correspondence, Press Clippings, Memorials, Programs and Posters, and Ephemera.

Series 1 Personal Papers/Information contains personal papers and information related to Carol Eckman, such as a passport and a vaccination confirmation.

Series 2 Photographs features photographs of various basketball players and games.

Series 3 Correspondence includes letters between Eckman and various organizations, as well as letters about Eckman. Correspondence includes letters about the Olympics and Special Olympics, the Women's Basketball Association of American, awards, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, basketball training camps, and more.

Series 4 Press Clippings includes press clippings and magazine features about Carol Eckman.

Series 5 Memorials features memorial materials related to Eckman's death in 1985. Memorial materials include obituaries, information about and speeches from her funeral service and other events, and a record of a NCAA memorial dedicated in her honor.

Series 6 Programs and Posters includes promotional materials for the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament, as well as bulletins for Hall of Fame cermonies and other events.

Series 7 Ephemera features 2 tickets from a NCAA Women's Final Four game.

Dates

1960 - 1993

Language of Materials

eng

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Extent

1 Boxes (1 half-size document box)

0.21 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Overview

Carol Eckman (1938-1985) was the Head Coach of the Women's Basketball team at West Chester State College from 1967-1972. This collection includes materials such as personal correspondence, photographs, and articles, as well as memorial materials from Eckman's funeral and programs of basketball tournaments created in her honor.

Biographical / Historical

Carol Ann Eckman was born January 11, 1938 in Berlin, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Somerset Joint High School in 1955, she attended Lock Haven State College. At Lock Haven, she played basketball and field hockey. She graduated from college in 1959.

Upon graduation, Eckman started coaching high school basketball. She began coaching college basketball at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz and continued in this role from 1962 to 1967.

Eckman came to West Chester State College in 1967. During her time here as a Head Coach, she established the first National Invitational Tournament at West Chester in 1969. The Golden Rams won this tournament as a part of their undefeated season. Eckman is often referred to as an important figure in women's college basketball, as this tournament was the first ever women's collegiate national basketball tournament. In her 5 seasons at West Chester State College, she led the Golden Rams to a record of 68 wins to 5 losses.

After leaving West Chester, Eckman continued on as a Head Coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and at Lock Haven State College from 1974 to 1977. In 1983, she received her doctorate in Physical Education from West Virginia University.

Carol Eckman passed away in 1985 from cancer. Her legacy lives on at West Chester and beyond, through memorial tournaments, coaching awards, societies, and more named in her honor. Eckman was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Arrangement

This collection lacked original order and some materials may have been formerly in a scrapbook. Materials in this collection have been arranged into series by topic and chronological order.