A Self-Taught Archivist and Curator Entrusts a One-of-a-Kind Collection to UT Libraries

Family, community, and UT Men’s Basketball: Those are the things that form the foundations of R. Larry Smith’s life and work. He graduated from UT’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 1976 and has spent four decades as an insurance broker. Smith is proud of his career and his community service — he’s served on more than thirty state and local boards and has served as president of many of them. But if you’ve ever spoken to him, the odds are the conversation eventually turned to the Vols.

Smith isn’t just a fan, though: He’s spent the past twenty years collecting and archiving the history of UT Men’s Basketball. Recently, he made the generous decision to leave this seminal collection of Vol history to the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives at the UT Libraries, ensuring its preservation and availability to researchers and fans for generations to come.

Smith’s passion for preservation was ignited in the mid-’90s when his son, who collected NBA basketball cards, gave him one that featured former Vol Dale Ellis. What began with this card has grown into the definitive record of UT Men’s Basketball. “My goal,” Smith says, “is — for every game — I want the game program, I want the ticket stub, and then the next day’s newspaper article about the game. I want the complete history of it.” Smith’s wide-ranging collection includes ticket stubs and programs for more than 1,600 games, photos of every team since 1909, signed game balls, and uniforms, in addition to one-of a kind items like the oldest known UT jersey (which he dates to 1922) and the stuffed gamecock given to Coach Ray Mears by football player Ken Rice for defeating #1-ranked South Carolina in 1969 — at the first game in South Carolina’s new arena. In fact, Mears’s wife, Dana, gave Smith her husband’s entire collection for the museum.

A lot of times they didn’t save these things, so I enjoy giving back.”

But Smith isn’t just a collector; he’s a true archivist. Every year’s team and every UT player who has ever played for UT has his own personal file that includes photos, news clippings, and other ephemera from throughout the player’s lifetime. Smith tries to acquire duplicates of materials that include individual players’ photos or stories — one for the team file, one for that player’s file — and additional copies to give away to players who visit the museum. “A lot of times they didn’t save these things, so I enjoy giving back,” Smith says. “And when they bring their kids, who say, ‘There’s Daddy or there’s Granddad’ — their eyes light up and that just gives me a lot of joy.”

While he spends plenty of time looking for items online, much of his collection was given to him by former players themselves. When a player learns about Smith’s project and that he has a file on the player specifically, many times that athlete will offer to give Smith anything he has kept over the years. “I get a little bit from this player, get a little bit from that player — I can complete a whole team year that way,” he says.

The Smith family knows the value of libraries. Larry’s wife, Sharon, is a former president of Friends of the Knox County Public Library and is a vocal library advocate in the Knoxville community. Larry himself found libraries an essential resource as he began researching the history of UT Men’s Basketball and learning what it takes to care for a collection like his. “I’ve learned a lot from librarians and from hanging around with people who know how to archive,” Smith says of the measures he takes to ensure each item is preserved.

I’ve learned a lot from librarians and from hanging around with people who know how to archive.

Knowing what it takes to keep such a collection safe is one of the main reasons Smith has decided to leave his collection to the UT Libraries. His earliest game programs turn a century old this year, and he trusts that the librarians and archivists in the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives will ensure they are preserved and safely housed.

Just as important to Smith as preservation is knowing his materials will be in a secure yet accessible environment. Once they are part of the UT Libraries, items from his collection will be available for researchers to use as needed, without fears that they could disappear or be lost. He eagerly imagines the ways the collection will be used in the future.

Smith remembers fondly, as well, the many hours he spent doing research in the Hoskins and Hodges libraries. “That just wound my watch,” he remembers, “when I would read the history of the earliest UT Basketball games.” Now, through his generosity, Smith has ensured that, when subsequent Vol Basketball fanatics come to the libraries to learn their team’s history, they won’t just find books; they will find everything they could ever imagine.