Robinson Museum project gains traction in coach's absence

Sitting in my hotel room after a series of remarkable ceremonies in the Louisiana state capitol honoring Eddie Robinson, I was struck by the rocky journey taken by a proposed museum project to honor the Grambling legend. This is what I wrote on April 9, 2007:

It’s been eight years since the Legislature approved the idea of a state-run Eddie Robinson Museum. There’s still no museum.

For all that time, the mantra amongst the organizers was getting it done before Robinson passed. That day has come, and gone.

There’s still no museum.

But those who believe in the project think the museum could gain new life in the aftermath of Robinson’s death, that some glimmer of hope might emerge from the grief over losing an American hero.

Doris Robinson, the late coach’s wife of more than 65 years, is one of those people. (She was the one who asked that information on donating to the museum be distributed during Coach Rob’s memorial in Baton Rouge.) So is Doug Williams, Robinson’s most visible protege this week.

“It’s unfortunate that it took his going home for so many people to know what we already knew about Eddie Robinson,” Williams said. “He was more than a football coach. He was more than 408 wins and 200 guys in the NFL. He was a great American.”

I don’t know why Robinson had to pass for us to get to that place, even though I’ll admit to being glad that it might be possible.

After all, Robinson didn’t send any more players to the NFL this week. He didn’t win a 409th time. All that happened long ago.

It’s time. Time for the university to sign off on the space. Time for the alumni to gather itself in mighty support. Time for this thing to happen.

There’s still no museum. And that’s a shocking rebuke to everything that is happening around Robinson right now.

All of these tributes mean nothing if there isn’t action to back up the sentiment.

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Over the intervening months, the project took on a renewed vigor, something underscored by the slideshow of images taken late last month for TheDerisoReport.com at the proposed museum site. I visited with the Robinson family, and asked them about this happy turn of events in the wake of Robinson’s passing:

“It has taken off,” said only son Eddie Robinson Jr., a former Grambling player and assistant coach. ”That’s so great for the family. It’s an inspiration to all of us. We’re all so very happy about that.”

Help flowed in both from Grambling graduates and from faraway fans. Museum organizers, for instance, set up an informational table during the emotional day that saw Robinson’s body lay in respose in the Capitol rotunda in Baton Rouge — only to run out of brochures in a flurry of activity.

Donations began showering down within days, from strangers and from familiar supporters alike. By June, two of Robinson’s most famous former quarterbacks, Doug Williams and James “Shack” Harris, had given $10,000 to the project.

The Louisiana Legislature promised funding and then, later in the year, upped the pledge to $2 million for restoration of an on-campus gymnasium and grounds, as well as the museum’s primary exhibit.

Donated memorabilia and other signature items then began flowing in from across the Grambling community — which has warmed to the museum idea after years of snags.

“We are seeing so many people working on the same page, working as a team,” said John Belton, the governor-appointed board chairman of the Robinson Museum commission. “Coach was all about that kind of effort, never about ‘I.’ This project has always been about uplifting that message, from Day 1.”

That it took Robinson’s passing to achieve this momentum is no small irony, in particular to longtime friends like Wilbert Ellis, who coached baseball at Grambling for more than 40 years.

“We wanted this to happen so badly in Coach’s lifetime,” said Ellis, now working as a fundraiser and spokesman for the proposed museum. “That didn’t happen, but the time did finally come. Donations and offerings of help started happening right away after this death. There’s no question, it was a rallying point. Eddie Robinson touched the lives of so many people.”

A museum in Robinson’s honor was first proposed in 1999 — two seasons after Robinson’s retirement at Grambling and several before the onset of his final illness.

One of the points of contention for years was where the museum would be located, though that was resolved when GSU and its oversight board agreed to make room for exhibit space in the school’s former women’s gymnasium — where Robinson had once coached basketball early in his career, as well.

“What better thing can happen than for that museum to be housed on campus?” Ellis said. “That building was constructed two years after coach arrived in 1941, and he began coaching basketball there. He was a part of that building, and that campus. It’s fitting.”

More consistent has been the issue of funding.

A temporary exhibit of Robinson-related items opened in the lobby of the Grambling Stadium Support Facility in June 2005. But Hurricane Katrina’s devastation sapped promised state dollars to build on that momentum.

Robinson’s passing, organizers say, quickly refocused attention on the museum. The funds followed.

“We’ve been overwhelmed, and we continue to be,” said Belton, his voice coloring with emotion. “I can only say that it’s almost like he has his hands on the project from up in heaven. That’s the best way I can put it.”