Leah Rawls Atkins

Last updated
Leah Rawls Atkins

Leah Marie Rawls Atkins (born April 24, 1935) is an American historian and former water skiing champion. She served as Director of the Auburn University Center for the Arts and Humanities.

Contents

Atkins won the 1953 World water skiing championships in Toronto. [1] After a career in water skiing, she earned a Ph.D. in history from Auburn University in 1974.

Atkins was the first woman in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. The Leah Rawls Atkins Award, Auburn University’s highest award for athletics, is named in her honor. [2]

Personal life

In 1954, Atkins married American football player George Atkins. [3]

Publications

Select books:

See also

Related Research Articles

Auburn University Public university in Auburn, Alabama, United States

Auburn University is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest university in Alabama. It is one of the state's two public flagship universities. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and has produced 5 Rhodes Scholars and 5 Truman Scholars.

John Murdoch Harbert III was an American businessman. He is best known for building his international construction company, Harbert Corporation, into one of the world's largest, along with creating a personal wealth of well over $1.7 billion. Harbert lived with his wife Marguerite in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Mountain Brook.

Tallapoosa River

The Tallapoosa River runs 265 miles (426 km) from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and westward into the Appalachian foothills in Alabama. It is formed by the confluence of McClendon Creek and Mud Creek in Paulding County, Georgia. Lake Martin at Alexander City, Alabama is a large and popular water recreation area formed by a dam on the river. The Tallapoosa joins the Coosa River about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Montgomery near Wetumpka to form the Alabama River.

Alabama Power

Alabama Power Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.4 million customers in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It also operates appliance stores. It is one of four U.S. utilities operated by the Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity.

Patrick Fain Dye was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), and Auburn University (1981–1992) compiling a career college football record of 153–62–5. He served as the Athletic Director at Auburn from 1981 to 1991 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2005. On November 19, 2005 the playing field in the stadium at Auburn University was named 'Pat Dye Field' in his honor.

Patrick Joseph Sullivan was an American professional football player and college coach. An All-American quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 and then played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan was a head football coach at Samford University, a position he held from 2007 to 2014. He was previously the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1992 to 1997 and the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1999 to 2006. Sullivan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.

Mountain Brook High School Public school in Mountain Brook, Alabama, United States

Mountain Brook High School (MBHS) is a three-year public high school in the city of Mountain Brook, Alabama. It is the only high school in the Mountain Brook City School System. The school's colors are green and gold and the athletic teams are called the Spartans. The MBHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.

The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame through athletics that reflects positively upon the state, usually through excellence at an educational institution or sporting event in Alabama. The ASHOF was established by state legislative act on August 14, 1967.

Billy Atkins (American football)

William Ellis Atkins was an American football defensive back and punter from Auburn University who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League, and in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills, the New York Titans/Jets, and the Denver Broncos. He was an AFL All-Star in 1961.

Alabama Crimson Tide football University of Alabama Football Team

The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team's head coach is Nick Saban, who has led the Tide to six national championships over his tenure. The Crimson Tide is among the most storied and decorated football programs in NCAA history. Since beginning play in 1892, the program claims 18 national championships, including 13 wire-service national titles in the poll-era, and five other titles before the poll-era. From 1958 to 1982, the team was led by Hall of Fame coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who won six national titles with the program. Despite numerous national and conference championships, it was not until 2009 that an Alabama player received a Heisman Trophy, when running back Mark Ingram became the university's first winner. In 2015, Derrick Henry became the university's second Heisman winner. The Crimson Tide won back to back Heisman trophies in 2020 and 2021, with DeVonta Smith and Bryce Young.

Larry Blakeney is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Troy University from 1991 to 2014, compiling a record of 178–113–1 in 24 seasons. He is one of only two coaches to have taken a college football program from NCAA Division II to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the other being UCF's Gene McDowell.

Charles H. "Sonny" Smith is a retired American college basketball coach. Originally from Roan Mountain, Tennessee, Smith served as a head coach for 22 seasons. Best known as the head coach at Auburn from 1978 to 1989, he also coached at East Tennessee State (1976–1978) and VCU (1989–1998). Smith won the 1985 SEC Tournament championship while at Auburn, and won both the CAA regular season and tournament titles in 1996 while at VCU. He made six NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach, five at Auburn and one at VCU. Smith was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Auburn Tigers mens basketball Basketball program

The Auburn Tigers men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Auburn University. The school competes in the Southeastern Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Tigers play their home games at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama on the university campus. The program began in 1906, and is currently coached by Bruce Pearl.

Auburn University has several notable traditions, many related to its varsity teams, the Auburn Tigers.

Gregg Carr

Gregg Kevin Carr, M.D. is currently an orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama and a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), where he played four seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1985–1988). Carr was an All-American college football linebacker at Auburn University (1981–1984) and later attended the University of Alabama School of Medicine.

Larry Levi Willingham is a retired professional American football player. He played in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals (1971–1972) and in the World Football League for both the Birmingham Americans (1974) and Birmingham Vulcans (1975). He was an All-American defensive back for Auburn University in 1970 and inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

George Arthur Atkins was an American football offensive lineman. After a college football career at Auburn, he played one season with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

Janelle Kirtley

Janelle Kirtley Godfrey was an American former World Champion water skier.

Mary Ann Neeley was an author and official historian for the city of Montgomery, Alabama. She served as executive director of Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation, from 1979 until 2003. Mrs. Neely's walking tours of downtown Montgomery and Oakwood Cemetery were a very popular activity for locals and tourists alike. She developed an annual conference that brought together academics, writers, and other historians, which explored numerous historical topics and drew together attendants from across the region. Along with being an author and a local historian, Neeley also taught courses at both Auburn University and Huntingdon College.

Avery Atkins (placekicker) American football placekicker

Jack "Avery" Atkins is an American football placekicker currently playing for the Louisiana State University Tigers football program. Atkins serves as the Tigers' kickoff specialist.

References

  1. "Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and Museum - Birmingham, Alabama". Ashof.org. 1935-04-24. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  2. facebook (2013-12-12). "AU ROUNDUP: Blanche Alverson receives Leah Rawls Atkins Award - OANow.com: Auburn University Sports". OANow.com. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  3. "Atkins' greatest coaching success not with Auburn". GadsdenTimes.com. 2007-08-28. Retrieved 2014-01-19.