Marquis Mills Design Collection
Marquis Mills Converse was the founder of the Converse Rubber Shoe Company. He was the son of Peter Mills Converse and Sarah Speare Converse. At the age of 47, after having previously been a manager at a footwear manufacturing firm, opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in February 1908 in Malden.
In 1918, the Converse All-Star basketball shoe was introduced. Then in 1923, a basketball player named Charles H. "Chuck" Taylor walked into Converse complaining of sore feet. Converse gave him a job: he worked as a salesman and ambassador, promoting the shoes around the U.S., and in 1932 Taylor's signature was added to the All-Star patch on the classic, high-topped sneakers. He continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969. Converse also customized shoes for the New York Renaissance (the "Rens"), the first all–African American professional basketball team. In 1962, center Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in an NBA game while wearing a pair of Chucks, taking a 169–147 victory over the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania on March 2