INDIANAPOLIS — A new exhibit at the Indiana Historical Society celebrates the legacy of Columbus entrepreneur Chuck Taylor, whose namesake Converse All Star sneakers are among the world’s most iconic athletic apparel.
The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in downtown Indianapolis on Thursday night hosted an opening reception for “Chuck Taylor All Star,” an immersive experience including artifacts and images, some of which the museum says have never been exhibited. The exhibit will run through Jan. 27, 2025.
Charles Hollis “Chuck” Taylor, who was born on June 24, 1901, near Nashville, Indiana, grew up in the southern Bartholomew County community of Azalia and graduated from Columbus High School in 1919.
According to exhibit material, Taylor had a short career as a player and success as a coach, but he made a name for himself traveling around the nation and beyond, teaching clinics on basketball fundamentals and selling a new basketball shoe — the Converse All Star.
By 1934, the company had adopted Taylor’s name for its shoe, giving him a more lasting legacy than anyone could have predicted. Taylor’s work with Converse helped to grow and spread the “gospel” of basketball around the nation during the sport’s infancy and led to Taylor’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. He died that same year, a day short of his 68th birthday.
According to the Glick Indiana History Center, the new exhibit uses some cutting-edge virtual reality experiences that allow visitors to travel back to 1952, meet Chuck Taylor and even participate in one of his famous basketball clinics.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
