• Chuck Taylor (1901-1969)

Charles “Chuck” Hollis Taylor was born in 1901 and graduated from Columbus North High School in 1918, playing in professional basketball games by the age of seventeen.

Taylor played for the Columbus Bull Dogs throughout his high school career, and is most known not only for his impact upon the basketball world, but within the Converse sneaker community as well.

Converse was given its big break when Chuck began wearing Converse high tops during his basketball games. Soon after this started, people began asking for “Chuck’s shoes” or “the Chuck Taylor shoes”, and his signature was added to the high top style fifteen years later.

Taylor continued wearing and selling the shoes for the next forty years, until his retirement in 1969, his death following only months later.

• Mike Pence (1959-)

Now known for being Vice President of the United States, Michael Richard Pence was born in Columbus in 1959. He attended North High School and later on became governor of Indiana from 2013-2017.

Pence had continuously made attempts to keep himself in the running for different political positions such as congress, which led to be successful – it gained him a greater chance at becoming Indiana’s governor. Before his term finished, President Donald Trump elected Pence as Vice President in 2016.

• Tony Stewart ( 1971-)

Anthony Wayne Stewart has gained great recognition as being one of the best professional race car drivers in history.

Born in Columbus in 1971, he began competing in racing events by the age of seven, and claims to have always emerged victorious. Stewart attended North High School, graduated in 1989, and quit competitive racing after twenty years well spent within the industry.

He used the last eighteen years focusing on his co-ownership of Stewart-Haas-Racing, a company helping people get involved in the racing world, just like himself at a young age. Stewart announced his official retirement in 2016.

• “The Four Freshmen” (1948-)

“The Four Freshmen” is a jazz group originally formed in 1948 by brothers Don and Ross Barbour, their cousin Bob Flanigan, and close friend Hal Kratzsch. All attended Columbus High Schools and signed with Capitol Records shortly after graduation.

Releasing multiple hit songs such as, “Graduation Day”, and “It’s A Blue World” made them well known across the country.

The band continued its success while touring the U.S, until members wanted to move on from the group as they grew older.

All original members remained until 1960, when Don Barbour parted first. As time passed, other members had made the same decision to leave. By 1992, no original members remained, and by 2011, all four had died.

Since the group’s formation, there have been over twenty five members in attempt to keep the original sound, and help The Four Freshmen legacy live on.

• Stephen Sprouse (1953-2004)

Stephen Sprouse was well-known for his influence upon the fashion and design industry in the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s.

He was noted for mixing different styles into something far ahead of his time and began sketching them by the age of nine. By Sprouse’s teenage years, his father had brought him to New York to meet multiple large name designers.

His graffiti left in subways beneath New York’s streets gained much attention, boosting his career. He continued as an aspiring artist at Rhode Island School of Design until offered a job in the city with Halston, a major designer of the time.

After three years, he quit to pursue his career independently, focusing on all aspects of the industry: painting, photography, and silkscreen prints.

Once he (briefly) displayed his work at local fashion shows, the items shown sold out within days. He soon was able to design a handbag for Louis Vuitton, which was also an instant hit.

He continued with smaller successes until his 2004 passing due to heart failure at age fifty.