The Carnegie Center’s Lunchtime Speaker Series will give Arizonans the chance to glimpse an interesting aspect of the state’s past when Mary Melcher presents “Batter Up! Arizona Women’s Softball Teams.”

The June 11 event will focus on the Ramblers and the Queens, amateur softball teams that dominated the sport from the 1930s to the 1950s. The two teams brought five championships to Arizona.

“Although they were amateur teams, they were very good and people loved to watch them. Before television, they could attract around 5,000 fans a game,” Melcher said.

The historical significance of the Ramblers and the Queens reaches far beyond their achievements on the field. Primarily, the teams, as well as the sport on a whole, gave women a chance to prove they could compete in male-dominated arenas such as sports, Melcher said.

“These female athletes provided an interesting preview into the advances women would make in sports in the future,” she said.

Additionally, the presentation will show the ways in which the sport chipped away at the racial divide. Softball opened up the field of play to African American athletes like Billie Harris, Melcher said. Harris excelled as a member of the Ramblers and is well known for her on-and-off the field contributions.

For the presentation, Melcher will use the oral histories of several former players including former Queen Flossie Ballard and former Rambler Dottie Wilkinson, a Phoenix native.

The history of Arizona women’s softball is filled with dedicated and interesting characters like Wilkinson. She started playing for the Ramblers at the age of 15 and continued to play well into her 40s.

The hour presentation starts at noon. It is free and open to the public at the Carnegie Center, 1101 W. Washington St. in downtown Phoenix.

Melcher has a doctorate in history from Arizona State University. Her body of work includes numerous oral histories and a focus on the history of Arizona.