Exhibit "All Stars: The Sensational History of Athletics as Entertainment" (Houghton Library)
Date and Time
May 27 - August 8, 2025
All day
Location
Edison and Newman Room, Floor 1, Houghton Library, Harvard Yard (open to the public)
Prior to the rise of professional sports in the 20th century, boundaries between sport, theater, and spectacle were blurred. This exhibit explores sports as a mode of performance and entertainment. What connects outstanding athletes across time are attributes such as strength, balance, and nerve—themes around which this exhibition is organized. Athletic stars of yesteryear left an extraordinary legacy in the form of prints, photographs, and other ephemera, and these materials underscore how the appeal of modern sports was built on a shared foundation of skilled athleticism and sensational entertainment.
This exhibition was curated by Matthew Wittmann, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection.