For more than 200 years, a question has followed Indiana wherever it goes: What is a Hoosier?
The nickname first appeared in the 1830s. Poet John Finley, an Indiana native, wrote a poem titled “The Hoosier’s Nest” in 1833 — later that year, Indiana Gov. James B. Ray published a newspaper known as “The Hoosier.”
Some say it originated from early settlers, who responded to visitors knocking on their doors by replying, “Who’s yere,” which sounded like “Hoosier.”
Others say it popped up from the Native American name for corn, “Hoosa.”
Inside a new exhibit at the McCalla School, “Hoosier” means one thing: Champion.
The exhibit, titled “Hoosier Champions: Outfitting IU Athletics,” features uniforms, helmets, jackets and even shoes from Indiana University Athletics dating back more than a century.
“Since we know — at IU — the fanbase is so deep and so passionate, we knew we would have something that people would want to come see,” said Brian Woodman, associate director of University Collections.
Woodman said there is something for anyone at the exhibit, from lifelong IU fans to freshman who just arrived in Bloomington a couple months ago.
Brian Woodman, associate director of University Collections, talks about what it took to bring the exhibit to life and what his favorite item is.
The exhibit features more than 50 items, including a “chrome-dome” football helmet from the 2010s, a game ball from IU men’s soccer’s 1988 national championship game and a 2013 College World Series baseball bat.
Buck Walters, an IU alumnus and Bloomington resident, said he appreciated the exhibit’s care and thoughtfulness.
“It’s good that it’s being preserved,” he said. “I think for a long time a lot of this stuff was misplaced.”
He also said — despite being a lifelong IU fan — he learned some new Hoosier history from the exhibit.
“I think Indiana sports history is heavy on basketball — last couple years, very heavy on football,” he said. “Also, the so-called minor sports, where Indiana’s had obviously national championships in swimming, soccer, cross country, track and field, and wrestling.”
Walters said he broadcasted IU basketball and football games, as well as and swim and dive meets when he was a student.
“It’s kind of, you know, reliving some of this stuff.”
He got to relive the six straight NCAA titles IU men’s swim and dive won from 1968-73, led by head coach James “Doc” Councilman, by seeing the candy-striped uniforms those teams wore.
Those uniforms caught the eye of IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight, and he requested candy-striped warmup pants for his team.
Knight led the Hoosiers to three national titles — 1976, 1981, and 1987 — and the exhibit has the exact Adidas shoes and socks Steve Alford wore during that last title run in 1987.
“It’s good that it’s been saved, resurrected and it’s gonna be preserved hopefully,” Walters said.
CBS Sports’ postgame interview after IU’s 74-73 over Syracuse to win the 1987 National Championship.
The exhibit also consists of recent history, displaying a jersey from IU football’s first College Football Playoff game last December and one of Grace Berger’s jerseys and warmup pants, who played five seasons for the Hoosiers and led IU women’s basketball to its first Elite Eight appearance in 2021.
“One of the cool things about a college town is that it has a lot of people that come and go,” Woodman said.
He said he hopes the exhibit helps others learn about the rich history in Bloomington and find out what being a “Hoosier” is all about.
For him, putting the exhibit together helped him answer that question.
“I came from Missouri,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about Hoosiers — I had to be educated, definitely, but that’s what made this exhibit so fun.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public at the McCalla School, located at 925 E. Ninth St., through next October.
Regular and holiday hours are available on University Collection’s website.
