From Director’s Blog
Helping Hands
12 May 2010 | 4:22 pm
For whatever reason, hands and hand strength have always fascinated me. Perhaps it began with seeing my maternal grandfather, Marvin Williams, break the shell of a native pecan by the pressure of the thumb and forefinger of one hand—a truly difficult stunt. In any case, my fascitation blossomed in my late teens and early 20s [...]
OUR BODY: The Universe Within
14 April 2010 | 2:24 pm
Following a month of complicated negotiations, the Stark Center is very pleased to announce the opening of a major traveling exhibit, which will be the inaugural presentation in the Joe and Betty Weider Museum of Physical Culture. Because of unanticipated hold-ups with the construction of several permanent displays for the Weider Museum, we decided to [...]
Our Davie
24 March 2010 | 4:27 pm
Sorry to be away for so long but the combination of our work here at the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports and the month-long run-up to the annual Arnold Strongman Classic we direct for Jim Lorimer at the unimaginably large Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio left us with little time for blogging. However, [...]
Digitizing History: Professor Attila’s Scrapbook and the Pudgy Stockton Collection
22 February 2010 | 3:35 pm
One of the long-held dreams Jan and I have had for the Stark Center has been to share our materials—many of which have been given to us for that purpose–with the wider world of scholars and fans of physical culture and sports. For almost 30 years we’ve done that primarily by working personally with people [...]
The Professor, Before and After
27 January 2010 | 4:26 pm
In 1987, Jan and I acquired from the legendary Sig Klein a number of artifacts which had been in the Klein-Durlacher family for a very long time. Those artifacts included a copper-headed walking cane bearing the name of Professor Attila, which was the professional or “stage” name of Louis Durlacher, who taught Sandow much of [...]
The Peoples Champion
15 January 2010 | 4:49 pm
The most recent of these periodic submissions provided some detail about how pleased we were to have picked up on our recent road trip what we believe is the very first power rack ever built/invented—a rack built in the 1940s in the cellar of Bob’s farmhouse along a creek in the beautiful rolling hills of [...]
There and Back Again
8 January 2010 | 2:55 pm
Jan and I returned last night from a ten-day road trip that was one of the most interesting and rewarding we have ever made. The trip originated when Mark Henry and his wife, Jana, told us that the birth of their second child was scheduled for the morning of December 30th in New York City [...]
Broad Shoulders
11 December 2009 | 5:39 pm
In earlier blogs, several photos of Mark Henry have appeared and Joe Roark, the creator of a fascinating and authoritative forum-IronHistory- suggested that some sort of measurement of Mark’s shoulders should be made as it appeared that he might have the broadest shoulders on record in the iron game. Mark, not Joe! No laughing. Anyway, [...]
The Double Gift of Doris Barrilleaux
4 December 2009 | 4:27 pm
One of the most important gifts the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports has received over the past several years came to us from Doris Barrilleaux, a Florida great-grandmother with the energy level of a hyperactive hummingbird. What she gave us was her very large and invaluable collection of correspondence, magazines, posters, videotapes, audiotapes, [...]
A Legacy Lesser Known
27 November 2009 | 11:35 am
Last week, the Stark Center was involved in two functions involving the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System. Those functions may prove to be very important to the future growth of the Center. This is so because the Board of Regents (BOR) governs more than 200,000 students and 84,000 employees spread across [...]
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About the Stark Center
| Phone | (512) 471-4890 |
| info@starkcenter.org | |
| Physical Address | Gate 16; North End Zone Suite 5.700 |
Current Exhibitions
OUR BODY: The Universe Within open at the Stark Center
Our Body: The Universe Within is now open at the Joe and Betty Weider Museum of Physical Culture. Tickets are available online through the Texas Performing Arts Box Office, at all Texas Box Office Outlets, 800-982-BEVO, and the day of exhibit at the box office at gate 16 of Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
Read our FAQ about the exhibit
| Purchase Tickets | Read about the exhibit |
Our Mission
As a research center at The University of Texas at Austin—one of the nation’s major research universities—the Stark Center is dedicated to: 1. acquiring and providing access to archival materials in the fields of physical culture and sports; 2. supporting and conducting research in disciplines concerned with health and high performance; 3. preserving the history of physical culture and sports; and 4. educating the public about the cultural and scientific significance of physical culture and sports through publications, digitization, web-based initiatives, and museum gallery displays.
Physical Culture is a term used to describe the various activities people have employed over the centuries to strengthen their bodies, enhance their physiques, increase their endurance, enhance their health, fight against aging, and become better athletes.
