Our Director, Dr. Jan Todd, has always had a special affinity for Katharina Brumbach, or as she is known by her stage name, Katie Sandwina. Dr. Todd began her weightlifting career in 1973 after accompanying her husband, powerlifting icon Terry Todd, to the gym. After deadlifting 225 pounds in her first workout, she asked her husband why there weren’t more women lifting (in 1973 there were no women’s powerlifting, bodybuilding, or weightlifting contests). This was when she first learned of Katie Sandwina, who’d been a center-ring attraction in Barnum and Bailey’s circus during the 1911 and 1912 seasons and possessed...

When I first began at the Stark, I heard tales told of binders assembled by Susan (former Director of Photography for Athletics) and Jim Sigmon (former Assistant AD for New Media) that contained the history of hard copy photos for the University of Texas Athletics programs before photography went digital with the evolution of DSLR cameras. The rumors were confirmed by a former staff member who actually remembered the exact location of the photo binders. He took us on a walkabout late one Friday afternoon and remembered the door they hid behind which was, unfortunately, locked. No one had been...

This Thanksgiving marks the official 100-year anniversary of the University of Texas football stadium. It’s had a few different names over the years (we’ll get into that later) and, more importantly, the stadium isn’t where things started for the UT football team. This is more of a meandering through how the stadium came to be and then a look at the evolution after the construction. So, while the stadium is celebrating its 100th birthday this Thanksgiving, this is a walk through 141 years of history in the making. On December 4th, 1883, less than 3 months after the opening of the...

Beauty, Art, and Form are all Around Us I’m a sucker for history. Really, any kind of history. I’m the nut who takes forever at a museum reading every single description. I took an Art History class in college in my last semester as a blow off class before I graduated and spent the week before the major paper was due sitting in front of pieces of art in the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park writing my impressions of the Impressionists. My sixty-page masterpiece of B.S. earned me a passing grade and a greater appreciation of art. I...