Missoula Women's Bowling Association Records, 1925-2003

The Missoula Women's Bowling Association was founded as the Missoula Women's Bowling League on January 9, 1925. The Northern Pacific Railway Company was one of the earliest supporters of the women's league, sponsoring two bowling teams: the Northern Pacific Freight and the Northern Pacific Passengers. Hope Beebe, a Northern Pacific stenographer, and Kathleen Walford were prominent organizers, and their efforts helped ensure that Missoula women had access to the new sport. By 1926, there were six women's teams playing in the Missoula league, some sponsored by other local businesses including the D.J. Donahue Company, the Coffee Parlor, Public Drug, and, later, Missoula Laundry. From the mid-1920s through the 1930s the league bowled primarily at Idle Hour Lanes on East Broadway in Missoula. In 1941, Liberty Bowling Alley opened on East Main Street, and a new women's league formed as the Liberty Ladies League. Active mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, the Liberty Ladies League and the Women's Garden City Bowling League, were smaller leagues whose membership and history overlapped with the Missoula Women's League. By the late 1940s, the main league became known as the Missoula Women's Bowling Association, and it operated under that name until it disbanded in the early 2000s.