A new exhibit at the University Collections at McCalla showcases a century of Indiana University athletics history.
Called “Outfitting IU Athletics: Hoosier Champions,” the exhibit chronicles Big Ten and national championships and individual accomplishments by Hoosier athletes.
And over the past century, there’s been a lot of those.
McCalla was able to tap into the vast resources of the IU Athletics Sports Memorabilia Collection.
“We were able to look through just all the different sports throughout numerous decades and just try to identify a nice breadth of objects that we could highlight,” said Jeremy Hackerd, the Assistant Director, University Collections, Indiana University.
Visitors will see Grace Berger’s jersey from the IU women’s basketball team’s historic 20-23 season, alongside Tom Abernethy’s jersey from 1975 and the shoes worn by Steve Alford in the 1987 NCAA championship game.
There’s a display highlighting Indiana’s 1938 Men's Cross Country National Championship team, kits from IU’s national soccer championship teams and a signed swimming cap worn by gold medalist Lily King at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Hackerd’s favorite piece is a bat used by Kyle Schwarber in the 2013 College World Series.
“Big fan of both IU and the Cubs, and he is just a great player, and he's obviously sitting some records in the major leagues,” Hackerd said. “So, being able to see that bat and see all the scuffs on there where you're hitting balls is really cool.
There’s also an exhibit featuring the football team that has helmets and uniforms from the past, including a jersey worn in last year’s College Football Playoff game.
Hackerd is hoping the excitement swirling around this year’s team helps lure visitors to the exhibit.
“We have a football section where we talk about the 1945 and 1967 Big 10 champions,” he said. “It'd be really cool if we're able to add something from this year's team.”
The exhibit opens today and runs through next October.
