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.

UPCOMING CLOSURE

Monday, 20 January 2025 — The Stark Center will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
We apologize for any inconvenience. During closures, you can still contact us by emailing info@starkcenter.org.

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...

Black and white photograph of Vic Boff and Paul Bragg in swimsuits hand wrestling on Coney Island Beach. They are standing in front of large rocks with beach goers and the pier in the background.

Preserving Legends: The Victor (Vic) Boff Collection

Victor “Vic” Boff (1917-2002) was a strongman, athlete, editor, entrepreneur, author, historian of the Iron Game, and friend to the Stark Center. He was not only interested in physical fitness, nutrition, and health, but wanted to preserve the history of strongmen, bodybuilders, and weightlifters. The Victor (Vic) Boff Collection documents these interests through newsletters, catalogs, magazines, newspapers, and over 300 photographs collected by Boff throughout his life. From an early age, Boff was interested in health and fitness. In his teens, he began strength training and performing strongman stunts, in addition to playing sports and swimming in the ocean year-round...

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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