Razorback Desegregation, Sports Broadcast History Featured at Mullins Library Event

Photo Submitted

The Washington County Historical Society will host an evening of Razorback sports history at the University of Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 23, in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room in Mullins Library. The event is a way to celebrate the donation of historic photographs of Razorback Stadium to the University Libraries. The event is free and open to the public. Everyone who loves history or the Razorbacks is encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be provided.

Nate Allen, the distinguished chronicler of all things Razorback, will then lead a panel discussion about the desegregation of Arkansas football, focusing on the African Americans recruited in 1973 and 1974 to a barely integrated team. Allen has invited three of these pioneers — Brison Manor, Johnnie Meadors, and Dennis “Dirt” Winston, as well as longtime U of A trainer Dean Weber — to join him in reflecting on their lives and times as Razorbacks. They will discuss the enduring impact of black players on race relations in Arkansas, and Arkansas’ impact on them.

Brison Manor is a 2012 Razorbacks Sports Hall of Honor inductee who played defensive tackle for the Razorbacks in 1973 and 1974. Subsequently an NFL star, he played in the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. Johnnie Meadors was a Razorback defensive end between 1973 and 1976 and an All-Southwest Conference player for the 1975 SWC/Cotton Bowl championship team. Dennis Winston, a Razorback linebacker from 1973 to 1976, played for two Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl teams. He is one of 10 Razorback greats being inducted into the U of A Sports Hall of Fame this August.

Nate Allen has covered Razorback sports since 1973, including a 14-year career at the Arkansas Gazette. His column appears in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other Arkansas newspapers.

Hoyt Purvis, professor of journalism at the University of Arkansas and president of the Washington County Historical Society, will host the event. He will lead off the evening with a history of Razorback sports broadcasting — the origins and development of the Razorback Network, early broadcasts of Razorback games, and some of the key individuals and developments in what has become an important part of Arkansas culture.

Members of the Historical Society stumbled upon the photographs at Headquarters House, one of Fayetteville’s oldest buildings, and decided to share these pictures with the public by donating them to the University Libraries’ special collections department.

Parking is available at the Stadium Drive Parking Garage adjacent to the Arkansas Union and across the plaza from Mullins Library.

The Washington County Historical Society, the oldest local history organization in the state, sponsors programs that draw attention to the rich heritage of Northwest Arkansas.

For more information, contact the Washington County Historical Society at 118 East Dickson Street, Fayetteville, AR 72701-4207, 479-521-2970, www.washcohistoricalsociety.org, info@washcohistoricalsociety.org.