March 19, 2021September 30, 2022
News, Blogs & UpdatesBy
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A New Page for Academic Conferences and Symposiums

As many of you know, The Stark Center hosted a virtual conference on January 15, 2021, called Physical Cultures of the Body. Twenty-one scholars representing thirteen different countries presented papers on the symbolic and cultural importance of the healthy and active body with reference to issues of race, gender, injury, strength, performance, eugenics, and much more. Over one hundred people from around the globe registered for the conference and attended. It was a great success. So successful, in fact, that we have launched a new page on our web site devoted to academic conferences and symposiums. In the ‘Research’ menu...

John Davis on the cover of Ebony Magazine, May 1952
March 1, 2021May 20, 2021
Collection in FocusBy
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John Davis on the Cover of Ebony Magazine, May 1952

In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to celebrate by sharing this issue of Ebony Magazine from May 1952. (Unfortunately, I’m late to publish this post due to Winter Storm Uri and the issues it created at The Stark Center. Please forgive my tardiness). In the lead up to the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, Ebony published articles previewing the Games and the Black athletes who were set to compete. The 1952 Summer Games were highly anticipated because, for the first time in history, the Soviet Union would send its best athletes to the competition. The Cold War was...

Here’s how the Center looked when we stopped work on Friday, February 19th, with fans running, humidifiers hopefully working, but the water leak still dripping into a big tub.
February 20, 2021February 21, 2021
It's a Good LifeBy
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STARK CENTER CLOSED DUE TO WINTER STORM DAMAGE

Please Watch for Updates on Reopening. Some of the most beautiful photos ever taken show a totally still body of water in which the scenery on land is replicated in crystalline perfection in its mirrored surface. The photo might show a pond in New England reflecting the fall leaves, a lake out west reflecting the Rockies, or even a skyline reflected in the ocean on a still day at the beach.  Architects design special pools to create such double beauty like the one that runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument in our nation’s capital, and the gorgeous...

Front page view of The Strongman Project Website
December 23, 2020June 26, 2024
It's a Good LifeBy
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Introducing THE STRONGMAN PROJECT A New Stark Center Resource Made Possible by Rogue Fitness

I am proud to announce the launch of The Strongman Project a new web outreach of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center which can now be seen at: www.strongmanproject.com.  Our plan is for The Strongman Project to grow and evolve over time as we will be adding new materials regularly to the site. The Strongman Project is launching with more than 5000 individual items (such as articles, photos, letters, scrapbooks) and eight “curated” features. On the site’s home page you can choose either the “Features” or “Browse” button to begin exploring.  We will add two curated features as well as more...

December 18, 2020December 21, 2020
Barbells and BiosBy
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Edmond Desbonnet, La Rois de la Force and the Chronicling of History

One of the challenges facing historians of physical culture across ages is the issue of biography. Those strongmen and women from the nineteenth and early twentieth-century who did so much to capture our respective attention were, for better or for worse, masters of publicity. It is so often difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction when it comes to the real lives of these performers, and for very good reason. The often dirty secret of the fitness industry is that aside from being performers and athletes, such individuals were also entrepreneurs. They had stories and products to sell and, as...

Attila painting before restoration
November 24, 2020November 24, 2020
Barbells and BiosBy
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Professor Attila’s Scrapbook in the Classroom

  Like many of my colleagues, online learning has been something of a mixed experience. Entire courses have been completely redesigned, I’m often left lecturing in my spare bedroom and I live, almost constantly, in fear of my two dogs taking over a lecture owing to their indignation with our mail carrier. Students, I’m well aware, are facing all of these pressures and then some. There has been then, a temptation, to simply fall back into tried and tested habits so that I, and the students, can simply survive the semester. I will admit, somewhat shamefully, that such a thought...

Sean Connery as a young bodybuilder, kneeling pose, flexing arms, chest, and left leg.
November 4, 2020May 20, 2021
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Remembering Sean Connery as a Bodybuilder and Athlete

  Thomas Sean Connery’s breakthrough as an actor came in 1962 when he was cast in the role of James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret Intelligence Service, a fictional character adapted for the screen from Ian Fleming’s spy novels. Connery portrayed Bond in seven films, all of which were immensely successful. The worldwide popularity of James Bond movies elevated Connery, a Scotsman, to an iconic status as the Scotsman. A rugged type of handsome, Connery radiated masculinity and spoke with a deep and poignant brogue. He starred in movies for the better part of four decades. A performance...

October 21, 2020August 27, 2020
Barbells and BiosBy
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Barbells and Bios: Health and Strength Magazine, Part V

One of my favourite treats at the end of the year was the publication of sporting annuals. Based in Ireland, I would eagerly await the sale of soccer, rugby, boxing and wrestling annuals more so than my Christmas presents. Annuals offered an opportunity to reflect on the successes, and failures of the previous year. Much like these blog posts, they represented an opportunity to pause and reflect on some of the lesser known or understudied aspects of the sporting calendar. By now, my fondness for Health and Strength magazine is rather obvious. What continually draws me to this magazine is...

Graduate students Dominic Morais, left, and Ben Pollack, right, pose for a photograph in the Stark Center's archives.
October 13, 2020May 31, 2024
It's a Good LifeBy
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The Ph.D. Program in Physical Culture and Sport Studies

Last October we celebrated our tenth anniversary with a special day-long event at the Stark Center for the subscribers of our journal, Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture (now in its 30th year).  Many of our subscribers had never been to see the Center and so as we planned the day, we allowed plenty of time for wandering through the exhibits and then had several speakers who talked about how they used the Center for research.  Among those was Dr. John Fair whose forthcoming book on Olympic weightlifter Tommy Kono is based on the Kono archives, which John...