Introdution

Programs as Artifacts of UT Life

An artifact is an object from the past that historians examine as a way to understand how people lived in earlier times. Pottery shards from ancient Egypt are artifacts, of course, and so are Leonardo Da Vinci's diaries, photographs from the Civil War, newspaper stories from World War II, and the football program covers displayed on this Web site. What can football programs tell us about the past? Plenty. As you'll see as you go through the exhibit, UT's football programs have helped to create the public image of the Longhorns, and the cover art has been used to foster traditions and emotions that surround the game experience. Memories of a day out with Dad, your first date with your spouse, or a grand sense of pride at being a Longhorn may be triggered with the glimpse of a game program. In addition, program covers serve to mark changes in technology and national events, thus giving us a glimpse into the mindset of UT students at the time. Whether depicting American pride during World War II or highlighting America's space race against the Soviets in the 1950s, program covers provide windows to the past and are, therefore, significant pieces of popular culture.

One of the challenges in the creation of this Web site was to find representative programs from the entire history of UT football. The majority of the programs used on this site belong to the Media Relations Division of the Athletic Department of the University of Texas, which has kept its own archives of football memorabilia through the years. Other programs were found at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History on the UT campus, and still other in the private collection of Austin artist Cathy Munson who graciously opened her studio to us when we asked her assistance. The final source of programs was the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports located in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Education of the College of Education. Started by UT faculty members Terry and Jan Todd, the Collection is internationally famous as the world's largest and most complete archival collection in the field of physical culture. In addition to the quarterly publication of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, the Todd-McLean Collection contains a unique collection of materials relating to physical fitness, sport training, competitive sports, weightlifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting, physical education, alternative medicine, and hygiene.

Share Your Programs

One of our hopes was that the creation of this site might allow us to begin filling in the missing gaps in our collection. As new programs are discovered, we plan to add them to this site and, of course, help to preserve them for posterity here on campus. If you have programs—from any era—that you'd be willing to donate to UT, please contact Dr. Jan Todd at 512-471-4890 or by email.