John D. Fair

Sport Participation

Started weight training as a freshman in college in September of 1961.

Entered first Olympic lifting contest in Norristown, Pennsylvania, December, 1964.

Entered first powerlifting meet in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, April, 1966.

Veteran of 75 AAU/USWF/USAW/USPF meets (1964-76 & 1985-present) as a middleweight and light-heavyweight.

Placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd) in weightlifting and powerlifting meets in ten states from New York City to New Orleans.
v Held state records for the deadlift in Virginia and for the snatch in Alabama and Georgia.
v Held lightheavyweight masters records for the squat (305), deadlift (395), and total (910) for 55-59 age group in Georgia.

A member of the U.S. National Weightlifting Committee (1972-76).

Southeast Region Powerlifting Chairman (1973-76).

Certified as a National Weightlifting Referee in Detroit, 1972.

Judge at the 1973 Mr. America Contest at Williamsburg, Virginia.

Served as a referee for two weight divisions at the 1973 Senior National Powerlifting Championships in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Officiated in over 60 local, regional, and national meets in weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and strongman.

Taught courses in weight training in the Physical Education Department at Auburn University at Montgomery.

Meet director of 4 AAU powerlifting meets, 2 physique contests, and 1 arm-wrestling contest (3 at AUM and 4 at Virginia Tech).

Supervised and coached weightlifting teams at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Auburn University at Montgomery.

Attended Olympic lifting clinics conducted by national lifting coaches in the 1970s in Newnan, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, and Detroit, Michigan.

Attended strength symposia at the National Strength Center in the 1980s at Auburn University.

Trained with the U.S. Pan American Team at the York Barbell Club, York, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1967.

Represented Auburn University at Montgomery as Escort to the Olympic Torch Bearer in Montgomery, Alabama, June 1996.

Lecture/Demonstration on theme of "A Century of American Weightlifting in the Olympics, 1896-1996" at World Fest at Jasmine Hill Gardens, Wetumpka, AL, June, 1996.

Served as Field of Play Assistant at the Training Hall and Warm Up Room of the Weightlifting Venue at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, July 1996.

Lectured on "Modern Weightlifting: Georgia, the Nation, and the World" to the Milledgeville Kiwanis Club in September 1998.

Interviewed by Brian Lockman on "Muscletown USA" for "PA Books," Pennsylvania Cable Television, June 29, 1999, for telecast in July and September to 2.4 million homes.

Lecture/slide presentation on "Muscletown USA" at Borders Books, York, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1999.

Lecture/slide presentation on "Muscletown USA" at the Spirit of York Strength Spectacular, York, Pennsylvania, June 27, 1999.

Conducted book signing of Mr. America: The Tragic History of a Bodybuilding Icon at the Mr. America All American Sports Festival, Washington, DC, July 1-2, 2016.

Competed in National Masters (Olympic Lifting) Championships, Savannah, Georgia, April, 2000 and April 2004.

Competed in National Masters (Olympic Lifting) Championships, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March, 2005.

Competed in National Masters (Olympic Lifting) Championships, Shreveport, Louisiana, April, 2014.

Alabama State Masters (Powerlifting) Champion (181 lb. Class), Fultondale, Alabama, May, 2000.

Attended Olympic Lifting Symposium conducted by Tommy Kono at Auburn University, July, 2000.

Taught academic courses on the History of American Weightlifting and Bodybuilding at Georgia College & State University, Spring Semester, 2001, Fall Semester, 2003, and Spring Semester 2011.

Taught course on the History of American Physical Culture at Auburn University, Fall 2014, Spring and Fall 2015, Spring and Fall 2016, and Spring 2017.

Taught course on the History of American Physical Culture at Auburn University at Montgomery, Fall 2015.

Assisted Jan Todd with course on the History of Physical Culture and Alternative Medicine during the spring semester of 2014 at the University of Texas.

Taught course on Sport, Fitness & Mass Media at the University of Texas, Spring, 2015, 2016, & 2017.

Served on doctoral committees of Dominic Morais and Ben Pollack at the University of Texas.

Served as judge for strongman competition at the annual Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, 2002-2016.

Member of the East Alabama (War Eagle) Weightlifting Club, 2008-present.

Member of the Editorial Board of Iron Game History, 1992-present.

Member of the Editorial Board of the Annual Review of Strength Coaching, 2011-present

Best lifts in competition (in pounds):

Olympic Lifts--Press 185, Snatch 200, Clean & Jerk 255.

Power Lifts--Bench Press 285, Squat 405, Deadlift 500.

Publications

BOOKS

Bob Hoffman, The York Gang, and the Manly Culture of "Muscletown U.S.A.," 1898-1985, State College, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.

Mr. America: The Tragic History of a Bodybuilding Icon, Austin, University of Texas Press, 2015.

ARTICLES

"How to Organize and Conduct a Powerlifting Championship," Powerlifting News (March, 1975), pp. 37-49.

"Bob Hoffman, The York Barbell Company and the Golden Age of American Weightlifting, 1945-1960," The Journal of Sport History, XIV (Summer, 1987).

"Olympic Weightlifting and the Introduction of Steroids: A Statistical Analysis of World Championship Results, 1948-1972," The International Journal on the History of Sport, V (Spring, 1988).

"Paul Anderson," "Isaac Berger," "John Davis," "Peter George," "Robert Hoffman," "Tommy Kono," and "Norbert Schemansky," biographical sketches in the Biographical Dictionary of American Sport, edited by David M. Porter, Westport, Greenwood Press, 1989.

"John Terpak's 80th Birthday: A York Reunion," Iron Game History (November, 1992).

"George Jowett, Ottley Coulter, David Willoughby and the Organization of American Weightlifting, 1911-1924," Iron Game History (May, 1993).

"Isometrics or Steroids? Exploring New Frontiers in Strength in the Early 1960s," The Journal of Sport History, XX (Spring, 1993).

Reprint of "Bob Hoffman, The York Barbell Company, and the Golden Age of American Weightlifting, 1945-1960" in The Iron Master (January, April, & July, 1993).

"Father-Figure or Phony? George Jowett, the ACWLA, and the Milo Barbell Company, 1924-1927," Iron Game History (December, 1994).

"From Philadelphia to York: George Jowett, Mark Berry, Bob Hoffman, and the Rebirth of American Weightlifting, 1927-1936," Iron Game History (April, 1996).

"Charles Atlas" and "Eugen Sandow" biographical sketches in the American National Biography, edited by John A. Garraty, New York, Oxford University Press (1999).

"In Search of Elmer Bitgood: The Paul Bunyan of New England," Iron Game History (October, 1998).

"York Barbell, Pennsylvania's Mecca for Muscle Builders," Pennsylvania Heritage (Spring, 1999).

"The Iron Game and Capitalist Culture: A Century of American Weightlifting in the Olympics, 1896-1996," The International Journal on the History of Sport (December, 1998).

"'The Man's Just Too Strong for Words to Describe' The Weightlifting Exploits of John C. Grimek," Iron Game History (April, 1999).

"Fitness Innovation or Sexual Exploitation? Bob Hoffman and the Women Weightlifters of Muscletown USA," Sport History Review (Spring, 1999).

"Commemorating Bob Hoffman," Iron Game History (May/June, 2000).

"Strength and Health: An Enduring Legacy," Strength and Health, on-line journal (January, 2001).

"Hercules Meets Sealtest Dan: The Rediscovery of an Iron Game Icon," Iron Game History (December, 2000).

"Searching for the Real Paul Anderson," Iron Game History (June, 2001).

"The Tragic History of the 'Military Press' in Olympic and World Championship Competition, 1928-1972," The Journal of Sport History (Fall, 2001).

"Paul Anderson," "John Davis," and "Tommy Kono" in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, edited by Arnold Markoe and Kenneth T. Jackson, Charles Scribner's Sons (New York, 2002).

"New Light on Bob Hoffman's Georgia Roots," Iron Game History (July, 2002).

"Georgia: Cradle of Southern Strongmen in the Twentieth Century," Atlanta History, A Journal of Georgia and the South (Fall, 2002).

"Mr. And Miss America Contests: A Tale of Contrasting Cultures in the Twentieth Century," Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, XXIII (2002).

"Mr. America: Idealism or Racism? Color Consciousness and the AAU Mr. America Contest, 1939-1982," Iron Game History (June/July 2003).

"Pioneers of Protein" (with Daniel T. Hall), in Iron Game History (May/June, 2004).

"Paul Anderson" and "Weightlifting and Bodybuilding" entries in the New Georgia Encyclopedia, edited by John Inscoe and Jamil Zainaldin, University of Georgia Press (2004 & 2005).

"Strongmen of the Crescent City: Weightlifting at the New Orleans Athletic Club, 1872-1972," Louisiana History (Fall, 2004).

"John Davis" and "Weightlifting" entries in the Historical Dictionary of African Americans in Sport, edited by David K. Wiggins, M. E. Sharpe, Inc. (2004).

Articles on "Weightlifting," "Powerlifting," and "Venice Beach" for the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sport, edited by David Levinson and Karen Christensen, Berkshire Publishing Group (2005).

"Kati Sandwina: Hercules Can Be A Lady," Iron Game History (December, 2005).

Articles on "Aerobics," "Vasily Ivanovic Aleksevey," "Charles Atlas," "Biofeedback," Body Building," "Calisthenics," "Fartlek," "Gymnasium," "Interval Training," "Tommy Kono," "Bernarr MacFadden," "Massage," "Yoshinobu Miyake," "Nudism," "Physical Conditioning," "Physical Culture," "Power Lifting," "Steven Reeves," "Eugen Sandow," "Norbert Schemansky," "Naim Suleymanoglu," "Charles T. Vinci," "Weight Lifting," and "Weight Training" in the Encyclopedia Britannica (February, 2006).

"Paul Anderson" biographical sketch in the Encyclopedia of Appalachia, edited by Robert Barnett, Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press (2006).

"Crossing the Color Line, The Caribbean Invasion of American Bodybuilding," Wadabagei, A Journal of the Caribbean and Its Diaspora (Winter, 2006).

"Oscar Heidenstam, the Mr. Universe Contest, and the Amateur Ideal in British Bodybuilding," Twentieth Century British History (Fall, 2006).

"Physical Culture Frolics in the Old Dominion: Bill Colonna's Picnic, 1953-1961" (with Jeffery Wells) Iron Game History (May, 2007).

"The Intangible Arnold: The Controversial Mr. Olympia Contest of 1980," Iron Game History (September, 2009)

"The Ethnic Origins of Ohio's Strength Culture," Ohio History (volume 117-2010).

Articles on "Weightlifting," "Bodybuilding," and "Arnold Schwarzenegger" in Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-first Century, edited by Steven A. Riess, M. E. Sharpe Publishers (2011).

"The Forgotten Mr. America: Jimmy Payne and the Strange Disappearance of the IFBB," Iron Game History (January, 2012).

Article on "Bodybuilding," Sports around the World: History, Culture, and Practice, edited by John Nauright and Charles Parrish, volume 3, 191-92, ABC-CLIO Publishers, ebooks.abc-clio.com (2012).

"'As the Twig is Bent:' Bob Hoffman and Youth Training in the Pre-Steroid Era," Iron Game History (August, 2012).

"William Kazmaier" biographical entry in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, edited by Robert J. Jakeman (2012).

"A Dream Come True," Iron Game History (August, 2012).

"Kati Sandwina, 'Hercules Can Be a Lady,'" reprint of article that appeared in Iron Game History (December, 1005) in Bandwagon, The Journal of the Circus Historical Society (March-April 2012).

"USA vs. the World: A Statistical Analysis of American, World, and Olympic Weightlifting Results, 1970 to 1992, Part I." Iron Game History 12 (August, 2013).

"Diversified Products" entry in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, edited by Claire Wilson (2013).

"Should All Athletes Use Explosive Lifting? A Commentary," in the International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 8, no. 3 (2013).

An article on "The USA vs. the World: A Statistical Analysis of American, World, and Olympic Weightlifting Results, 1970-1992," Part 1, Iron Game History, 12 (August, 2013).

A museum review article on "The Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports" in The Journal of Sport History (Fall, 2013).

An article on "The USA vs. the World: An Analytical Narrative of American, World, and Olympic Weightlifting Results, 1970-1992," Part 2, Iron Game History (August, 2014).

An article on "The USA vs. the World: A Retrospective Analysis of American, World, and Olympic Weightlifting Results, 1970-1992," Part 3, Iron Game History (November, 2015).

"More Than Mr. America: Red Lerille and "The Finest Health Club in the World" in Starting Strength, http://starting strength.com (forthcoming-2017).

Articles on "William Pullum" and "Oscar Heidenstam" for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2016).

"Charles Kochakian" entry in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, edited by Claire Wilson (2016).

"Bernard Shaw and Physical Culture," Iron Game History (forthcoming-2017).

"Strongmen of the Crescent City: Weightlifting at the New Orleans Athletic Club, 1872-1972," reprinted in "It Matters Not What Comes to Pass, A History of Sports in New Orleans, ed., Thomas Aiello, University of Arkansas Press (forthcoming-2018).

Conference Participation

"The York Barbell Company and the Golden Age of American Weightlifting" presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History in Vancouver, British Columbia, May, 1986.

"Olympic Weightlifting and the Introduction of Steroids: A Statistical Analysis of World Championship Results, 1948-1972," presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, May, 1987.

"Bob Hoffman and the Manly Culture of Muscletown USA" presented at the annual meeting of the American Men's Studies Association at Howard University, Washington, DC, March, 1996.

Commentator for session on "Strength at the Turn of the Century" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, May, 1996.

"A Century of American Weightlifting in the Olympics, 1896-1996" at the annual meeting of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in New Orleans, Louisiana, February, 1997.

"The Women Weightlifters of Muscletown USA" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, May 1998.

"The Rise and Fall of the Press in Olympic and World Championship Competition, 1928-1972" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at the Banff Centre for Continuing Education, Banff, Alberta, May 2000.

"Idealism or Racism: Color Consciousness and the AAU Mr. America Contest, 1939-1982" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at French Lick, Indiana, May 2002.

"The Mr. and Miss America Contests: A Tale of Contrasting Cultures in the Twentieth Century" at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association in Houston, Texas, November 2002.

"Crossing the Color Line: The Caribbean Invasion of American Bodybuilding in the Twentieth Century" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Asilomar, California, May 2004.

"Oscar Heidenstam, The Mr. Universe Contest, and the Amateur Ideal in British Bodybuilding" at the annual meeting of the Western Conference on British Studies at San Antonio, Texas, October 2004.

Chair and commentator for session on "The Meanings of Muscle in the Progressive Era," at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, Atlanta, Georgia, January, 2007.

"The Strongmen of Ohio" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Lake Placid, New York, May, 2008.

"The Intangible Arnold: The Controversial 1980 Mr. Olympia Contest" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Asheville, North Carolina, May, 2009.

"Jimmy Payne: The Forgotten Mr. America" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Austin, Texas, May 2011.

"'As the Twig is Bent;' Bob Hoffman and Youth Training in the Pre-Steroid Era," at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Berkeley, California, June 2012.

"USA vs. the World: A Statistical Analysis of American, World, and Olympic Weightlifting Results, 1970 to 1992" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 2013.

"The Diverse Roots of Physical Culture in Modern Britain" at the British Studies Seminar, University of Texas, Austin, March 7, 2014.

"The British Physical Culture Tradition" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, May, 2014.

"Athena: Bodybuilding Breakthrough or Box Office Bomb?' at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at the University of Miami, May 2015.

"Beach Muscle Bodies" at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, (May 2016).

Professional Service

Member of the editorial board of Iron Game History, published at the University of Texas.

Book Reviews

Jack W. Berryman and Roberta J. Park, Sport and Exercise Science, Essays in the History of Sports Medicine (University of Illinois Press, 1992) in the International Journal of Sport History (December, 1994).

David Chapman, Sandow the Magnificent, Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding (University of Illinois Press, 1994) in the International Journal of Sport History (August, 1996).

Alan M. Klein, Little Big Men, Bodybuilding Subculture and Gender Construction (State University of New York Press, 1993) in The Journal of Sport History (Fall, 1997).

Arthur J. Drechsler, The Weightlifting Encyclopedia, A Guide to World Class Performance (1998) in Iron Game History (January, 2000).

Brian Pronger, Body Fascism, Salvation in the Technology of Physical Fitness (University of Toronto Press, 2002) in Iron Game History (April, 2007).

David Chapman, Sandow the Magnificent, Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding (University of Illinois Press, 2005) reprint in The Journal of Sport History (Fall, 2009).

Randy Roach, Muscle Smoke & Mirrors (AuthorHouse, 2008) in Iron Game History (September, 2009).

Bill Pearl, George and Tuesday Coates, and Richard Thornley, Jr., Legends of the Iron Game, Reflections on the History of Strength Training (3 vols., Phoenix, OR, Bill Pearl Enterprises, 2010) in Iron Game History (June, 2011).

Harvey Newton and Simon Jenkins, "Should All Athletes Use Explosive Lifting?" in the Annual Review of Strength Conditioning, an on-line supplement of the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching (2012).

Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Managing the Body, Beauty, Health, and Fitness in Britain (Oxford University Press, 2010) in Iron Game History (February/March-2013).

A review article on "H. J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports" in The Journal of Sport History (Fall, 2013).

Shelly McKenzie, Getting Physical, The Rise of Physical Culture in America (University Press of Kansas, 2013) in The American Historical Review (February, 2015).

Work in Progress

"Muscles in the Movies, The Heroic Tradition in Physical Culture"

"Lifting Round the World, Bob Hoffman's 1955 Middle East Tour"

"Tommy Kono and the Power of Zen"

Personal Information

Birth Date and Place--September 6, 1943, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, USA

Married--Sarah Patterson Fair, March 18, 1977

Children--Jonathan Oliver Fair (b. September 22, 1982) and Philip Alexander Fair (b. February 9, 1985).

Address-Department of Kinesiology, Auburn University, or The H. J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture @ Sports, NEZ 5.700, 1 University Station, D3600, Austin, TX, 78712 or 759 Karlee Court, Auburn, AL 36830

E-Mail-john.fair@.gcsu.edu, jdf0027@auburn.edu, john.fair@austin.utexas.edu, jfair@aum.edu

Education

B.A. Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, 1965

M.A. Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1966

Ph.D. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 1970

Institutional Affiliation

Instructor of History, York College of Pennsylvania, 1967

Instructor of History, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, 1968

Assistant Professor of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 1969-1971

Assistant Professor of History, Auburn University at Montgomery, 1971-1975; Associate Professor of History, 1975-1981; Professor of History, 1981-1997; Department Head, 1988-1997; Alumni Professor, 1995-1997

Professor and Chair of History and Geography, Georgia College and State University, 1997-2002

Professor of History and Graduate Coordinator, Georgia College & State University, 2002-2012.

Adjunct Professor of Kinesiology, University of Texas, Austin, 2012-

Contract Instructor, Auburn University, 2014-

Adjunct Professor of History, Auburn University at Montgomery, 2015

Honors

Professor Emeritus of History, Auburn University, Montgomery

Alumni Professor History, 1995-1997

Excellence in Research and Publication Award, Georgia College, 2004-5, 2006-7, and 2010-11.

Fellow, Royal Historical Society, 1996-Present