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...

“The triumph and tragedy of sports,” is a phrase often heard but nothing compares to the tragedy of a team losing a coach to a reportedly freak accident. This was the case in 1911 at the University of Texas. Coach Billy Wasmund was just in his second year as head coach at Texas when his untimely death occurred, shocking both the football team and the community as a whole. Here is a look at his story. William Wasmund was born in 1887 in Michigan to a stone contractor from Germany. He had two brothers and a sister. He first began...

As we prepare for UT to enter the SEC Conference this summer, I thought it would be fun to do a look back at the different conferences in which UT participated and share some photos of great athletes and artifacts as a sort of show and tell. Of course, The University of Texas has a deep and storied history in athletics, so there is a plethora of content within the Stark walls. From the time that the University of Texas was established in 1883, students have enjoyed participating in athletics on campus. They formed teams and scrimmaged against each other....

March is a fabulous month. Think about it…it’s the beginning of Spring and nature is renewing itself. The bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and all the beautiful wildflowers are blooming along the highways and byways in Texas, which seem particularly prolific this year. In addition, March is the month where EVERYONE gets to be Irish, at least for a day. But, best yet, March is home to March Madness, perhaps the most celebrated sporting event in American collegiate athletics. After months of play, grinding out the travel, and establishing win-loss records, regular season conference champions secured their spots in the NCAA Basketball Championship tournament....