Columbus Metropolitan Library and our Local History & Genealogy division are hosting this free virtual event.

Ask questions and live chat with LH&G staff and guest speakers from your computer or mobile device.

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Join us as sports historian, Chris Willis, discusses the forgotten success of lifelong Columbus resident, Joe Carr, a sports executive and the NFL's president from 1921-1939.

📷The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr  captures the life and career of this pivotal figure in professional sports, chronicling the many achievements of a man whose vision helped shaped what the NFL is today.

With unlimited access and complete cooperation from the Carr family—including family interviews, personal letters, and family photos—as well as NFL League Minutes, Willis recounts the fascinating life and career of a Columbus man dedicated to the game.

CHRIS WILLIS is head of the NFL Films Research Library, a position he has held since 1996.  He was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 and won an Emmy in 2016 for his work on HBO's "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Texans."

Willis is the author of seven books including Old Leather: An Oral History of Early Pro Football in Ohio, 1920-1935 (Scarecrow, 2005) and The Columbus Panhandles: A Complete History of Pro Football's Toughest Team, 1900-1922 (Scarecrow, 2007).  His forthcoming book due in 2022 is a biography on Bronko Nagurski, former Chicago Bears Hall of Fame fullback.

A Columbus native, Willis graduated from Urbana University where he was a member of the football team.

Joe Carr: The Man Who Built the National Football League