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.

We will be CLOSED on Thursday, June 19th, in observance of the Juneteenth holiday, and again on Friday, July 4th, in observance of Independence Day. We apologize for any inconveniences these closures may cause. If you need to reach us on either of those days, please email info@starkcenter.org.

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...

A photo of the intramural and club sports wall from the Women First exhibit.
Curator's CornerBy
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Literature, Philosophy, Rhetorical Theory . . . But Wait, This Is About Women First!

I feel obligated to assure you that this blog is in fact about our newest exhibit, Women First! But I want to start by telling you about the Literature and Philosophy lecture course that I took during my very first semester at Saint Edward’s University in the fall of 2006. It was one of four or five lecture course topics available to choose from as all of Saint Edward’s freshmen were required to take a lecture course during the fall semester (very likely the only lecture course offered to students on the Hilltop during that time) which tied in with...

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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