Dates

• Existence: 1911 - 1996

Biography

Sarah Alien Longchamp, an early Iowa women's basketball player, was born on March 18, 1911 to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Maurice White in Ida Grove, Iowa. Longchamp's high school career as a basketball player began when she was just four years old as a mascot for her older sister's team. During her career Longchamp was a player on two of Ida Grove's state championship teams in 1928 and 1929. This success during high school led to her induction into the Iowa Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on March 11, 1972.

Following high school Longchamp attended the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa) and pledged at Kappa Alpha Theta. After completing her education, Longchamp spent time traveling. This included a trip to Europe in 1938.

Early in 1942, Longchamp began to work at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. then went to the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, Silver Springs, Maryland which she left in January 1943 to join the Navy. This led to a military career culminating in the rank of Commander in 1957. In this capacity she worked on the production of radio proximity fuses and from 1957 to 1959 on the Polaris Program as a contract specialist.

On January 23, 1960 she married Francis Michael Longchamp in Washington, D.C. The Longchamps moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in 19xx. Sarah Longchamp died on December 31, 1996.

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