Welcome to the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports.

The Stark Center is a research center housed within the Department of Kinesiology & Health Education.  We are a unique combination of library, archive, and gallery/exhibit space.

It's a Good LifeBy
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An Unexpected Pleasure: Kissing the Ground in Equilibrium—A Search for the Origins of the Pushup

One of the things I enjoy most about the Stark Center are the requests we often get for information about some aspect of the history of physical culture. Most of those requests are handled by our incredible Stark Center staff but every now and then a request will make its way to my inbox and I find myself so intrigued that I end up doing research that wasn’t planned because the question made me curious too. This past Sunday was one of those days. I got an unexpected email from Denis Blinov, whom I’ve never met. “May I ask if you...

Joe Bonomo on a boat surrounded by men, lifting one man over his head with one arm.
News, Blogs & Updates, Reporting from the RecordsBy
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Strength in the Silent Era

How does a strong man make a living? For Joe Bonomo (1901-1978), his strength opened doors for several career paths, including work as a stunt man and actor in Hollywood. Thanks to the Victor (Vic) Boff collection at the Stark Center, we can all enjoy a glimpse into Hollywood’s silent era and early “talkies” through the photographs of Bonomo’s career over the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Vic Boff (1917-2002) was a strongman, athlete, editor, entrepreneur, author, and historian. Bonomo was good friends with Boff and gifted him two large, framed collages of photographs of himself throughout his career. An image...

Browse the Complete Journal Archive

The Stark Center features collections from around the world related to all aspects of physical culture and sports.

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