Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Guback, Steve
- Abstract:
- Steve Guback Collection consist of publications, correspondence, photographs and audio video materials
- Extent:
- 58 Boxes
- Language:
- Materials are in English
- Preferred citation:
Steve Guback Collection, MSA 2, The Media School Archive, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Steve Guback was a former award-winning sportswriter with The Washington Evening Star who also served as Director of Information for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for eight years, until his retirement in 1993.
During his 20 years with The Washington Star, Guback covered a wide variety of sporting activities, including NCAA basketball championships, more than a dozen Super Bowls, heavyweight championship fights, collegiate football bowl games, tennis, baseball and track. He also covered the Washington Redskins on a daily basis for more than a dozen years and worked with the Redskins for two years on special projects after the Washington Star ceased publication in 1981.
Guback was inducted into the United States Writers Hall of Fame at the 1989 NCAA basketball championships in Seattle, WA. He was also elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Prior to joining the Star, Guback wrote for Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal. He also contributed to numerous national publications, including Newsweek, The Saturday Evening Post, The Sporting News and TV Guide.
With the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Guback handled media inquiries, special promotions, and various fitness-related projects and was responsible for the Council's public service messages on radio, television and print. He accompanied chairman Arnold Schwarzeneggar on a 50-state tour promoting the need for improved youth fitness. Guback also served as Acting Executive Director of the Council for five months under President Bush in 1989 and has served on the Board of Directors of the United States Olympic Committee.
A graduate of Indiana University who enrolled in 1947 and completed his degree in 1950, Guback was voted the Outstanding Journalism Graduate in 1950 and was one of the first recipients of the Ernie Pyle Scholarship awarded to outstanding journalism majors in honor of the late Scripps-Howard war correspondent. He also was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business administration honor society.
Guback was voted the Virginia/DC Sportswriter of the Year on three separate occasions, served on the Professional Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, served as president of the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association, and was president and later executive director of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Guback was born in Wallington, NJ and was raised in Norwalk, CT, where he began writing sports as a high school youngster for The Norwalk Hour. He was inducted into the Norwalk High School Wall of Honor in 2001. He died on October 1, 2018.
- Scope and Content:
The General Files include a large collection of subject files amassed by Guback and organized alphabetically by subject. Subjects include names of prominent sports figures, sports franchises, collegiate sports programs, and topics or issues in sports and journalism. These files mainly include correspondence, personal notes and drafts, clippings, and photographs. While most of the files contain material primarily related to professional football and college basketball that date from the 1970s and 1980s, some material related to other sports and from other decades can also be found. Following this section are two sections devoted to clippings related to professional basketball and professional football. Files are organized alphabetically by the athlete or sports figure featured in the article. The final section in this series contains files related to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. These files include fitness periodicals, promotional materials, instructional materials related to exercise, fitness and health, and personal correspondence.
The Periodicals series includes a collection of both sports magazines and sports newspapers. The magazine section includes publications dating from 1936 to 2009 and includes both general sports publications and publications specific to a particular sport. Included in this section are selected issues of classic sports magazines including Ring, Sport, and Illustrated Football Annual. This section also considers a significant number of issues of Pro!, Football Digest, and Sports Illustrated. The collection of Sports Illustrated magazine is the most extensive, spanning roughly three boxes. The newspaper section of the series contains editions of several small newspapers relating to the Washington Redskins.
The Media Guides series of the collection contains a variety of media guide publications, ranging from the 1950s to the present day. A large part of this series consists of professional football media guides and is relatively thorough, although not complete. The series also includes media guides produced by the ACC covering all collegiate sports, several media guides from college football and basketball programs, and several media guides produced by college football bowl organizations.
The Programs, Yearbooks, and Assorted Publications series includes a sizeable run of Washington Redskins programs, the bulk of which are from the 1980s and 1990s. The collection also includes several non-Redskins programs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, as well as programs from assorted collegiate and professional sporting events. Additionally, this series includes assorted directories of professional sports journalist organizations, including directories of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association.
The Visual Materials series includes both VHS and 16mm formats. A majority of the VHS tapes include home recordings of sports telecasts, including recordings of various Super Bowls, NFL playoff games, and college basketball games, as well as some other assorted sporting events. The seven 16mm film reels included in this series, produced by Castle Films, date back to the 1940s and feature various sports highlights.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired: 2009
- Processing information:
Processed by Joshua Bennett. Completed in 2020.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into the following series:
- General Files
- Box 1-9
- Periodicals
- Box 9-16
- Media Guides
- Box 17-30
- Programs, Yearbooks, and Assorted Publications
- Box 30-33; 36-58
- Visual Materials
- Box 34-35
Indexed Terms
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Prior arrangements should be made before visiting The Media School Archive. Patrons are encouraged to communicate with the Archive in advance of their visits to ascertain availability of materials.
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Archivist.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Steve Guback Collection, MSA 2, The Media School Archive, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
Franklin Hall601 East KirkwoodBloomington, Indiana 47405, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
812-855-9247tmsarch@indiana.edu