The golf clubs that helped make Louise Pound famous were on display Tuesday for a gathering honoring the Nebraska trailblazer.

So were her roller skates and ice skate rudders to be fitted with saddle shoes.

All courtesy of Paige Namuth, who was 10 in 1958 when she met the famous athlete and scholar.

Namuth had tagged along with her mother and father, professional photographers, as they took pictures of the octogenarian and her brother at their home at 1632 L St.

Afterward, Namuth and Pound spent the afternoon playing. Pound could have been a child herself - if measured by her enthusiasm for play.

"The kids in her neighborhood came to her fence and say to her brother, 'Can Louise come out and play?'" Namuth recalled Tuesday.

"We shared a love of moving and playing that afternoon. It eventually occurred to her that she should give me all of her 'toys.'"

Pound sent Namuth packing with a good chunk of her sports equipment, and a piece of Nebraska history.

"On the way home my mother said (of the equipment), 'That should be in a museum!' But, I didn't care. I was 10 and it was mine," Namuth said.

The memory has remained important to Namuth, now in her 60s.

In fact, the impression left by Pound was so profound Namuth held a birthday party for Pound to support the launch of a new biography about her.

Arkansas author Robert Cochran penned, "Louise Pound: Scholar, Athlete, Feminist Pioneer," published by the University of Nebraska Press.

After contacting Namuth, he opted to donate all the proceeds from the book to the Antlers Center, her substance abuse recovery home, she said.

"He (Cochran) told me I had the best stories about Louise," Namuth said of the author's donation.

Namuth said she hopes the book will encourage people to study Pound and, moreover, to encourage a rekindling for "joyous education, music, moving, play and being a child."

Sophie Harano, 15, was part of the small gathering. She accompanied her grandmother and Pound-enthusiast, Jan Lingren.

"Sophie is a pole-vaulter," Lingren said. "She is an innovator of her own. That's why I brought her here today."

Pound laid the groundwork for women to participate in sports - and to be fully themselves in all arenas of life, Namuth said.

"Young women don't know what it was like," Namuth said.

Harano nodded. If sports weren't an option for her, she doesn't know what she'd do, she said.

"It gives me confidence, in all things," Harano said.

Though Harano didn't know much about Pound before attending Namuth's party, she left with a piece of history, grasped firmly in her palm.

As Harano spoke about her sport and its importance in her life, Namuth turned, grabbing a weathered, old golf club off the display table behind her.

"I bequeath to you a golf club of Louise Pound," Namuth said. "It's what Louise would've done."

Reach Lisa Munger at lisamunger@gmail.com.