The Stark Center brings Longhorn sports history to life, with Kyle Martin guiding us on a captivating journey celebrating the past in the present.

My name is Kyle Martin, and I work as the curator at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports. As the curator, I’m in the business of telling stories. And if you’re a former Longhorn athlete, then, more specifically, I’m in the business of telling your stories. You see, it’s my job to help preserve the history of sports at the University of Texas and to create museum exhibits that educate and celebrate the greatness and complexity that have occurred at the intersection of sports history and Texas history. If you haven’t been to our space yet, it is a beautiful 27,000-square-foot facility located on the 5th Floor of the North End Zone building at DKR – Texas Memorial Football Stadium. We operate as a research center and library, with over a third of our space dedicated to archiving and preserving the history of physical culture and sports, and another third to galleries and public exhibitions. If you have not heard of us or have not been able to visit the Stark Center yet, consider this a formal invitation. If you’ve been to our space before but not in the past year, I’d like to invite you back because there are a few new exhibits I’d like to show you.

Most recently, I have just completed a new exhibit called “Farmers v. Longhorns,” which tells the history of the Lone Star Showdown, the football rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M. This year marks the 120th Texas versus Texas A&M football game. In celebration, this exhibit pays tribute to the great players, coaches, history, hijinks, and traditions that have made the Lone Star Showdown mean so much to so many, and the so many more to come.

Read more here: https://starkcenter.org/research/collections/farmers-v-longhorns/

Another exhibit I hope you’ll come see is called “Women First!” and it presents the history of women and sport at UT with a particular focus on celebrating the many “women firsts” that have come with it. From the hiring of the university’s first “Directress of Gymnastics,” Eleanor Pearl Norvell in 1899, to the construction of the women’s gymnasium and Anna Hiss’s development of intramural and club sport programs, from the passage of Title IX to the recent development of Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities, female students at the University of Texas have always sought out the many benefits and advancements of physical culture and sports. Whether students engaged with sport as varsity athletes, intramural or club participants, physical education students, or fans and cheerleaders, those storied relationships have played a significant role in shaping campus life and culture for female students.

Some of the images of The Women’s road to Title IX, Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw national Championship years, and the Texas and Texas A&M Galleries are below

Read more here: http://starkcenter.org/research/collections/women-first/

We are open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. We do not charge for admission. Our research center is free and open to everyone: students, researchers, and the general public. If you were a varsity athlete at the University and you have your own story, your own collection, that you’re interested in preserving at the Stark Center, please feel free to ask for me when you visit our space. You can also email me at Kyle@StarkCenter.org

Thanks, hook ‘em, and I hope to meet you soon,

Kyle R M

Curator, The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center at UT

Here are some photos that I’ve taken of the exhibit, if you’d like to use them: