For the final project, my group and I have decided to research the history of James Madison University Athletics. Athletics at JMU serve as an important part of the university and have improved dramatically over the years. To display significant JMU Athletic events we have decided to use a timeline with both text and various media to represent our findings. My specific role in our project is researching the history of all female varsity sports at JMU.
Through the Special Collections department at Carrier Library, I browsed through the historic photographs available on the JMU Libraries page. I found three photographs that were digitized via Special Collections of different female basketball players and coaches from 1986. The first two images are black and white action shots of female basketball players. The first woman is Betsy Witman, who is being guarded by two opposing players as she is jumping to shoot the basketball. The photograph is dated March 13, 1986. The second woman is a player identified as Donna Budd, running down the court with the basketball, pushing the opposing players blocks. Budd’s photograph has the same date as Betsy Witman’s – probably from the same game. Since the photographs are in black and white the colors of the uniform are unable to be identified, but one could speculate they are wearing purple. The details of the setting and the opposing team are also unable to be identified in the photographs. The third photograph is a black and white picture of a female coach wearing a pantsuit, interacting with the game from the sideline by yelling and pointing in a direction. This woman is identified as Shelia Moorman and the photograph is dated March 5, 1986.
Betsy Witman and Donna Budd were both players for JMU women’s basketball team in the 1986 season. Shelia Moorman was the head coach of JMU women’s basketball for fifteen years (1982-1997) and is considered the winningest coach in program history. Moorman has a record of 300 wins, appearing in six NCAA tournaments and producing four conference titles. Two of Moorman’s more outstanding games were the upset tournament win against top-ranked Pennsylvania State University in 1991 and during the 1986 season, which Witman and Budd were apart of, defeated regionally top-seeded University of Virginia. Moorman was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001 for her achievements.
Since 1986 was an important year for JMU women’s basketball, being that they had a historic win over University of Virginia, both action photos of Witman and Budd can be used to represent the 1986 year. It is especially important that they are action photos of the players, allowing for better context to support the text in the timeline. Shelia Moorman will be featured on our timeline as she is a highly influential person in JMU athletics history. Moorman is a key figure in the history of women’s basketball here at JMU. Without her the women’s basketball team would not have been as successful as it is now. All three photographs have been digitized by the Special Collections library and are noted to be in good condition for use in our timeline.
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