The 1970 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, contested at the Tulsa Assembly Center, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the only national figure skating championship to be hosted by the Sooner State. It was there, now 50 years ago, that one of the sport’s greatest and most iconic champions, Janet Lynn, claimed the second of her five consecutive national titles.
A small, simple pin in red, white, and blue that features a central snowflake design marked the event. Around the circumference of the pin are “Tulsa 1970” and “National Figure Skating Championships.” On a silver-color base metal, the silk-screened pin is delicate and easily susceptible to being scratched or damaged. It is unlikely that many pins from this event exist today that do not exhibit flaws, whether from the production process or from use and handling over time. Or from simply aging gracefully. Like a handful of other pins issued for figure skating events, the Tulsa pin does not include a skating motif of any kind.
A small, simple pin in red, white, and blue that features a central snowflake design marked the 1970 event.
Commemorative pins were not issued for the U.S. Championships in the years 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969,1 so the Tulsa pin was the first since the 1965 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held in Lake Placid, New York. It would not be until starting in 1973 that at least one pin would be issued each year to mark the U.S. Championships.2
1,2 Source: Former Director of the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame.
1970 U.S. Championships
