Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Access to the correspondence series folder "Affidavit for Luiz de Oliveira, 1987" is closed until 2057 due to the presence of legal materials about a third party.
Access to the sports journalism and writing series folder "Lindgren, 1977-1978" is closed until 2048 due to the presence of legal materials about a third party.
Access to the sports journalism and writing series folder "The tears of Aberash, 2003-2005" is closed until 2075 due to the presence of legal materials about a third party.
Kenny Moore is a sports journalist, author, screenwriter, distance runner, and former Olympian.
Kenneth Clark Moore was born on December 1, 1943, in Portland, Oregon. Moore grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and graduated from North Eugene High School in 1962. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Oregon in 1966. While attending the University of Oregon, he ran track and cross country and was coached by Bill Bowerman. He was a three-time All-American and contributed to the school's back-to-back NCAA track and field titles in 1964 and 1965. He was named the university's top student-athlete in 1966. Moore attended one year of law school at Stanford University from 1966-1967 before deciding to return to the University of Oregon to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
Moore won national titles in the 1967 AAU Cross Country National Championship and the 1971 Pan American Games marathon. He ran the marathon in the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympic Games, finishing 14th and 4th, respectively. Moore won the largest footrace in the world, the San Francisco Bay to Breakers, six consecutive times from 1968-1973, making him the all-time leader in victories in the race.
From 1968-1970, Moore served in the U.S. Army, finishing as a Spec. 4 in Public Information at Ft. Lewis, WA. Moore worked as a substitute teacher and was a writing teacher at the University of Oregon from 1971-1972. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon in 1972.
Beginning in 1971, Moore served as the director of the Oregon Track Club. From 1973-1980 he was a founding member of the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athletes' Advisory Council. From 1976-1977 he was a co-editor of the Final Report of The President's Commission on Olympic Sports, which led to the Amateur Athletic Act of 1978, breaking up the Amateur Athletic Union and guaranteeing athlete's voices and votes in all national sports governing bodies. Moore was the chairman of the Steve Prefontaine Foundation from 1976-1979. He was a member of the International Competition Committee of the Athletics Congress from 1977-1980.
Moore was a contract writer for
In 1982, Moore's book,
Moore was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Kenny Moore papers document Moore's career as a sports journalist, author, screenwriter, and accomplished distance runner. The collection includes correspondence, writing and research files, manuscripts and screenplays, track memorabilia and ephemera, materials related to athletic committees and activism, and personal papers.
The correspondence series contains personal and professional correspondence. The bulk of the material is emails and letters exchanged between Moore and his friends.
The sports journalism and writing series documents Moore's sports writing career. This series contains materials related to Moore's magazine and newspaper articles, books, films, speeches, and student writings. For example, this series includes writing and research files on athletes and sporting events that Moore covered for
The athletic competition and activism series documents Moore's running career as well as the athletic committees, foundations, and activism that he has been involved in. This series contains track memorabilia and ephemera, meeting minutes, correspondence, draft bills, charters, and notes. For example, this series includes uniforms from the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and records related to the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athletes' Advisory Council.
The personal papers series contains material related to Moore's personal life, including photographs, calendars, birth certificates, a high school diploma, notes, workout schedules, and memorial materials.