The historic Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom at the University of Texas at Austin, which has hosted important U.S. figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Frank Sinatra, is the new venue for the International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ).
The Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom is nearly 100 years old. (Photo courtesy of the Texas Union)
From March 27 – 28, 2025, hundreds of media executives, journalists, scholars and students from around the world will meet in this storied building to discuss the future of journalism.
For 25 years, ISOJ has helped lead the conversation on how digital technologies are reshaping the journalism field. It’s fitting, then, that the 26th annual conference will be held in a historic building with its own stories to share.
The nearly 100-year-old Texas Union officially opened in 1933 and was designed in the style of Spanish Renaissance architecture. Look beneath your feet and see the hard maple floor has a circular pattern designed for roller skating.
Named for a former UT Austin administrator, the ballroom recalls great moments in Texas history.
In the 30s and 40s, the ballroom was big enough to accommodate all of the university’s 4,000-5,000 students (UT now has 53,000 students), and a dance was held every day at noon–that is, until the faculty petitioned for the dances to be stopped since students were cutting classes to boogie in the ballroom.
The ballroom also has seen its fair share of historic figures.
Because the University of Texas was the southern anchor for the Big Band circuit, the ballroom has played host to famous musicians like Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Glen Miller.
And Martin Luther King, Jr., the most famous U.S. civil rights leader, delivered the speech “Civil Liberties and Social Action” in the ballroom in March 1962.
Today, the Texas Union, which houses the ballroom, is a center of student life. It has a bowling alley, numerous fast-food restaurants, a live music venue and bar–all of which will make it easy for ISOJ-ers looking for a little post-conference food or entertainment.
The Union has a profound and important history, and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, which organizes ISOJ, is excited to keep that tradition alive with cutting-edge discussions about where the journalism industry is headed.
Keep an eye on isoj.org and our social media accounts on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram for news about early-bird registration and programming. Be sure, too, to sign up for our periodic ISOJ newsletter. We can’t wait to see you online or in Austin, Texas, for the 26th ISOJ!
