The Dallas Historical Society and the State Fair of Texas, in cooperation with the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, present a new exhibit honoring a selection of individuals who have contributed to athletic history in Texas. Titled “Texas Sports Legends,” the exhibit is open daily during this year’s State Fair of Texas, now through Oct. 19.
On Sept. 23, the Dallas Historical Society’s Fellows received a sneak preview of this exhibit. Fellows are those who donate at least $1,500 to the Society. They receive exclusive invitations for exhibits and events at some of the most historically significant places in the city.
Those in attendance included Alicia Landry, Tom Landry, Jr., Norma Walker and her family, Veletta and John Lill, Margaret and Lester Kelliher, Kathleen and Ban Bywaters (known for helping the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas launch its Trains exhibit).
They viewed interesting items in the exhibit such as:
- Tom Landry's Championship Rings
- Curtis Cokes’ Championship Belt
- Nastia Liukin's World Championship Medals and Olympic Unitard
- Roger Hornsby's Cardinals Uniform
- Davey O'Brien's Heisman Trophy
- Michael Johnson's Track Shoe
It’s the first time that the three Heisman trophies from Dallas have been in the same exhibit. Two of those are from Woodrow Wilson High School—the only high school in the country with two—and one from Doak Walker.
Lynn and Allan McBee, Dallas Historical Society’s co-chairmen of the board of trustees, said, “Since it was founded in 1937 by some of Dallas’ most prominent leaders, Dallas Historical Society’s Fellows have provided one of the strongest funding sources, public endorsement and valuable special events’ financial resources for the Dallas Historical Society. For those interested in seeing historically significant exhibits, such as the Texas Sports Legends, we encourage you to join the Fellows. We also have a series of programs and events especially for this membership group.”
Those interested in joining can go online at http://www.dallashistory.org.
“Whether they grew up here or became a member of a Texas-based team later in life, there are many legends to be honored who have contributed to Texas athletics,” said State Fair of Texas President, Mitchell Glieber. “We know that we cannot honor them all, but we thank the Texas Sports Hall of Fame for loaning us a selection of sports memorabilia for fairgoers to enjoy during this year’s Fair, themed ‘Deep in the Heart of Texans.’”
A selection of the inductees from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame who will be highlighted in this exhibit include: auto racing legends – A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford; baseball legends – Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan; basketball legends – Rolando Blackman and Clyde Drexler; boxing legend – George Foreman; football legends – Joe Green, Tom Landry, and Doak Walker; golf legends – Ben Crenshaw and Lee Trevino; hockey legend – Mike Modano; rodeo legend – Don Gay; soccer legends – Mia Hamm and Kyle Rote, Jr.; swimming legend – Eddie Reese; tennis legend – Zina Garrison; and track and field legends – Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.
About the Dallas Historical Society: Established in 1922, the Dallas Historical Society is the preeminent organization of its kind in Dallas, collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the unique heritage of Dallas and Texas to educate and inspire future generations. The stories of Dallas are shared each day through the three million items that comprise its archives and artifact collections. Housed at the Hall of State in Fair Park since 1938, the Society presents these collections through education programs, exhibitions, tours, access to research materials and workshops. Each year, the Dallas Historical Society is visited by more than 160,000 people and serves more than 20,000 students through guided tours and educational programming at the Hall of State, as well as outreach programs at school locations. More information can be found at http://www.dallashistory.org.