COLUMBUS--Ohio History Connection's “Champion of Sports” exhibit explores the themes of character, adversity, innovation, identity, tradition and victory.
It features more than 70 stories and 35 oral histories covering everything from baseball to roller derby.
- New exhibit at Ohio History Connection features one of a kind artifacts, first person accounts and spotlights Ohio’s long running contributions to sports culture.
- Exhibit kicks off March 16th and runs until September 2020.
The accomplishments of Ohio's best athletes, coaches, owners and fans from high school to the pros—are all on display across three floors.
“You can't tell our national sports history without Ohio. So we wanted to reflect these stories within this exhibit. We wanted people to be able to connect to their history in a really visceral way,” says Ohio History Connection spokesperson, Emmy Beach.
Many of the artifacts provide a glimpse into history that you cannot see anywhere else, including Akron native Lebron James' jersey from his rookie season with the Cavaliers.
Visitors are able to connect and relate to the stories of Jesse Owens' four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic games in Germany--all the way to the present with the Save the Crew Movement.
“It definitely is something Ohio has needed for a long period of time. I think its going to be tremendous interesting not only to sports fans but to people who maybe don't have that much of an interest in sports and will come here and really learn a lot about how so many sports originated here in Ohio,” says OSU historian and 97.1 The Fan broadcaster Jack Park.
The final product is the culmination of 18 months of hard work and collaboration.
“Within that time period, connected with history organizations all across the country to bring these stories, these artifacts here. We're a Smithsonian affiliate and as a part of that relationship, we can bring their collections to our visitors here,” says Beach.
The Champion of Sports exhibit is an experience for for the casual and avid sports fans of all ages.
“I'm going to come out here and go through this a lot over the next 18 months and even though i've been involved in sports my whole life, I'm going to learn so much from this connection without question,” says Park.
The Ohio History Center's Champion of Sports exhibit is open to the public starting Saturday and runs through September 2020. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for Seniors and College students (with valid ID), and $6 for Youth 4-12 years old. Parking is free.
For more information follow this link.