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. Our regular hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm. There is no charge for admission and all are welcome.

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...

A photo of a man in a University of Texas varsity baseball uniform from 1928 secured in matting from University Studio

Longhorn Baseball History Mystery: The Lost Reliever

The ghosts of time occasionally make a run through the Stark and, if they are Longhorn athletes from the past, they usually sprint. Some of these figures have names and their legacy is well documented; others have been lost to time and have seemingly disappeared from history. Last year, I received a phone call from a lovely woman named Louise Mulkey from Amarillo. Her cousins had given her some items that belonged to their uncle, and she was trying to find a place to send them that would find value in their historical significance. She called the right place.  For...

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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