The Eddie G. Robinson Museum’s long, winding journey

Many long agreed that a museum dedicated to former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson would be a good thing.

They just couldn’t decide where it should be.

Approved by legislative act a decade ago, the project didn’t find its home at the former GSU women’s basketball gymnasium until 2006.

The original plan, said Doug Porter of Grambling, an original ex-officio Robinson museum board member, had the exhibit space located near Robinson Stadium on campus. There was, for a time, a conversation about putting the museum in Shreveport. Or on the exit at Interstate 20. Or in the village of Grambling itself.

As these disagreements lingered, proposed state funding was cut in May 2004, and the museum board stopped convening. That didn’t sit well with some Grambling supporters, who called the unrealized dream one of the Lincoln Parish’s most important economic opportunities.

Original governor-appointed commission member John Belton, a Ruston attorney, Porter and others kept fanning the flickering flame. They met in January of 2005 in the offices of former Grambling president Horace Judson, reconstituted the Robinson Museum board and set about creating a temporary exhibit to house some of the sprawling collection of artifacts from Robinson’s six decades of coaching at Grambling.

Porter — an assistant on Robinson’s staff in the late 1960s and early 1970s — was jubilant afterward.
“It might really happen,” Porter said, as a big smile curled up his face. “It just might happen, after all.”

That embryonic success was capped by a banquet held on campus in which interim Louisiana secretary of state Al Ater roused the crowd with a new commitment of support from Baton Rouge.

“We need to make sure that not just this generation, but future generations know that there was a man at this small school who did whatever it took to build this legacy,” Ater said before about 250 museum supporters. “With commitment, anything is possible. He epitomizes that.”

The museum effort, however, was again stopped short — this time by Katrina. Deep budget cuts in the wake of the storm brought the group’s momentum to a shuddering halt.

It would take another two years, and the passing of Robinson at age 88, before the project regained its footing. Emotions surrounding that, organizers say, finally propelled the project toward this weekend’s gala opening.

“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.”
–
A BRIGHT BEGINNING
The museum was originally mentioned during the Louisiana Legislature’s 1999 session, when then-Sen. Randy Ewing introduced Senate Bill No. 919.

The bill, co-sponsored by the late Rep. Pinky Wilkerson of Grambling and several others, created a commission that would develop a Robinson museum. The project was to be a part of the Department of State Museums Program, administered by the secretary of state.

Robinson attended the board’s first meeting, held Sept. 7, 2001, in Ruston. Late secretary of state Fox McKeithen spoke briefly to the assembled supporters, and praised the former coach’s commitment to America’s youth.

Former Gov. Mike Foster had appointed four members to the board: Belton, James Davison, Lottie Green — then the group’s leader — and Johnny Maxwell.

Others in attendance for that first meeting were Ater, then-deputy secretary of state; Robert Wiley, then-president of Grambling Chamber of Commerce; Florent Hardy, Jr., Louisiana State Archivist; former GSU trainer Eugene “Doc” Harvey; James Bradford, former president of the GSU Alumni Association; and Porter, president of the GSU Athletic Foundation.

“This first meeting of the Board of Governors earmarks the beginning of a long and exciting journey towards fruition of a dream long held by many people in our state and across the nation,” McKeithen said.
The project sought to pull into tight focus both Robinson’s achievements on the gridiron and in America. Head football coach at Grambling from 1941-97, Robinson retired as the winningest coach in college history with 408 wins — leading the Tigers to 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.

But Green would fall ill. Then a series of ex-officio commission members also left the school — including acting president Neari Warner, athletics director Albert Dennis III and football coach Doug Williams.
The Robinson Museum had reached the first of what would become a dizzying array of hurdles.
–
AND THEN MONEY WOES
Louisiana’s financial commitment, subject to a number of outside factors, often wavered early on.
The state intended to allocate $600,000 to the project in the 2000-01 fiscal year, according to legislative documents, with another $3.9 million promised over the next two to five years.

But, even as the Louisiana State Archives collected truckloads of memorabilia from Robinson’s career, funding didn’t follow.

McKeithen’s staff was instructed to begin cataloging and taking inventory of these items, which would then return to the museum once the facility was ready to open. The collection — which includes awards won by Robinson, as well as playbooks, equipment and a large stockpile of videotape from Grambling’s football history — has finally begun making its way back to Grambling in advance of Saturday’s museum grand opening.

Perhaps the museum’s closest brush with funding before Robinson’s death came as Foster prepared to leave office, when he approved a wide variety of favored projects. His final state budget for fiscal year 2004 included $5.5 million dollars earmarked for the Grambling facility.

But the Robinson museum was part of nearly $700 million in projects slashed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco in the summer of 2004 in an effort to balance the teetering state budget.

Even so, the Robinson museum was not technically rejected. Two legislators listed all of those deleted projects, for the record, in House Concurrent Resolution 194 during the last session.

The museum was also mentioned on Aug. 25, 2004, by the Board of Regents facilities and property committee. But that was only to recommend that the project be made part of the next fiscal year’s capital outlay budget requests.

In the end, however, there was no money. There was no one meeting to talk about the project. There wasn’t even a consensus on where the museum should be.

Robinson himself, in passing, would have a hand in tying up all of these loose ends.
–
A HOME SITE
For all of the conversations about where the museum should be housed, Robinson more than once spoke eloquently on the subject.

“Everything that I accomplished and most of the service I rendered to the state and nation originated right here on this campus,” Robinson said during an April 12, 2002, commission meeting.

Four years later, that wish was finally granted: The board convinced Judson to house the exhibits at the women’s gym on campus in May 2006.

Retired GSU baseball coach and family friend Wilbert Ellis played a key role. Named to lead the Friends of the Eddie Robinson Museum fundraising group earlier in 2006, he met with Judson, along with Belton and the late longtime faculty member David Lewis, to lay out the proposal.

“I’m excited because of the history; that would be an ideal place for it,” Ellis said of the facility. “It’s exciting and encouraging, and Coach would love it.”

The gym, which became vacant with the opening of Grambling’s new Assembly Center, would have to be retrofitted to provide adequate climate control and security. But, it was in a prime location: on the village side of Grambling and in a visible spot on campus next to GSU’s administration building, Long-Jones Hall.

“For me, there was never a question of feeling like it wouldn’t happen,” said Porter, by then the board’s vice chair. “Some people said we were underdogs. But when I was coaching at Grambling, we always felt we could win. That’s the same way I felt about this. I knew there were enough people who had a sincere desire to do something for Coach that it wouldn’t die.”

Everything, Porter acknowledged with a satisfied if nostalgic sigh, was finally coming together.
–
MOVING QUICKLY
That quick settlement of this long-unsettled issue was the capstone of a remarkable turnaround for the Robinson Museum project.

In the days and months after Robinson’s passing, help flowed in both from Grambling graduates and from faraway fans.

Museum organizers, for instance, set up an informational table during the emotional day in 2006 that saw Robinson’s body lay in respose at 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 2007, two of Robinson’s most famous former quarterbacks, Doug Williams and James “Shack” Harris, had given $10,000 to the project. They donated $10,000 more a year later.

The Louisiana Legislature promised funding, 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.

The Ruston-Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau also presented $13,500 in funds earmarked for promoting the museum. “The convention and visitors’ bureau has been there supporting this project from the beginning,” Ellis said. “It’s been a good marriage.”

Donated memorabilia and other signature items then began flowing in from across the Grambling community.

“We are seeing so many people working on the same page, working as a team,” Belton said. “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 Ellis.

“We wanted this to happen so badly in Coach’s lifetime,” he said. “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.”

Eddie Robinson Jr. witnessed firsthand how the coach’s passing helped push the initiative along. In a blink of an eye, he said, the long-hoped for museum groundbreaking ceremony was being held in September 2008.

Doris Robinson presented the state’s renovation plans and then — after donning a hardhat affixed with the familiar Grambling “G” logo — turned over the initial mounds of dirt with a golden shovel.

“It has taken off,” said Robinson Jr., who played for and then coached with his father at Grambling. He became deeply involved with the museum project late in Robinson Sr.’s life. “That’s so great for the family. It’s an inspiration to all of us. We’re all so very happy about that.”
–
KEEPING THE FAITH
Throughout the long journey, the secretary of state’s office — through the administrations of McKeithen, Ater and now Jay Dardenne — remained a strong advocate.

Dardenne helped with a final push for funding and support, and was there in May 2009 to accept a signature gift from Robinson’s first Pro Football Hall of Famer, Willie Davis. The $100,000 donation was underwritten by The Lincy Foundation, a charitable foundation created by Kirk Kerkorian, CEO of Tracinda Corporation.

Dardenne praised the steadfast efforts of Belton, Porter, Ellis and others.

“I appreciate the work that has gone on for the past 10 years,” Dardenne said. “Their sweat and tears made this possible.”

Davison, a Choudrant businessman and longtime family friend of the Robinsons, was one of several in attendance at the 2008 museum groundbreaking who wore specially made shirts.

The printed motto, as appropriate on that day as it will be during this weekend’s debut events, read:

“Coach Rob — we kept the faith.”

–
GET IN THE GAME:
Previous editions of the Robinson Museum journey –
The Eddie G. Robinson Museum: A dream fulfilled
Temporary exhibit opens with emotional 2005 ceremony
The project found a home on Grambling’s campus in 2006
Organizers celebrate in 2007 as project finally funded
Long-anticipated 2008 groundbreaking moves many to tears
–
About Robinson
Eddie Robinson was hired as a coach and teacher in 1941 by what was then the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, which would later become Grambling. By 1995, he had become the first coach to win 400 games. Robinson eventually amassed 408 victories before retiring in 1997, a still-standing NCAA Division I record. A member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, he led Grambling to 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.
–
Groundbreaking, banquet
A sold-out corporate banquet for the Eddie Robinson Museum will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, with guest speakers Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Brian Kelly of Notre Dame. The museum’s grand opening is set for 10 a.m. Saturday on campus at Grambling State University’s former women’s gymnasium. For more information, go to robinsonmuseum.com.
–
Follow us on the Web –
TheDerisoReport on Facebook
TheDerisoReport on Twitter
TheDerisoReport on YouTube