One hundred years ago this spring, the Franklin Wonder Five etched their names in history.
Representing first Franklin High School, then Franklin College, the team was one of the first powerhouse squads in the state of Indiana. They won three straight championships in high school, and 50 straight games in college, including wins over Notre Dame, Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue.
The Wonder Five’s prowess helped solidify their legacy in local and state history. Now, on this centennial anniversary, their accomplishments are cause for another celebration.
On Thursday, local officials will unveil an official state historical marker from the Indiana Historical Bureau honoring the team. The marker is just the fourth official one to be approved in Johnson County.
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The campaign to honor the team was led by a group of Franklin College students. Their work has once again united the Franklin community together around their Wonder Five.
"It’s really cool to see all of these parts of campus and the community coming together to celebrate something that is meaningful, to remember what Franklin College has meant to students in the past and what it is still doing for students today," said Meredith Clark-Wiltz, a professor of history at the college and one of the organizers of the historical marker campaign.
The old brick gymnasium is known as the Franklin College Fitness Center today. But inside the charming century-old fieldhouse, the Wonder Five once played their home games, dominating Indiana collegiate basketball in the 1920s.
Just outside the gymnasium, officials have prepared a metal post and site for the installation of the historic marker. The announcement of the historical marker has electrified the county.
"There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. It’s such a wonderful topic about Franklin, and seeing so much of the community come together has been great," said David Pfeiffer, director of the Johnson County Museum of History.
The "Wonder Five" distinction refers to the teams that played at Franklin High School from 1918 to 1922, then at Franklin College from 1922 to 1926. Much of the team started playing together in elementary school, then stayed together through their high school years. Led by coach Ernest “Griz” Wagner and star player Robert “Fuzzy” Vandivier, the team was state champion from 1920 to 1922.
No team won three straight state championships in Indiana again until Marion did it in the mid-1980s.
During their historic runs, every game was an event. People would pack into the gymnasiums for home games, and during tournament games, they’d gather in Franklin’s downtown square to catch updates of the games on an electronic scoreboard. When tickets went on sale for games, lines wrapped around the block.
“The Franklin community was obsessed with them,” Pfeiffer said. “It was a huge, huge source of civic pride.”
After graduation, and when Wagner took the head coaching job at Franklin College, they all continued on as a team in college. In 1923, the group went undefeated, and were deemed national champions. There was no NCAA tournament at the time, but the team won five straight college state championships in a row.
"Everyone in the state was looking toward Franklin as being this hotbed of basketball, the fact these players came from high school where they were extremely successful, and into college together to win championships. That’s a unique Indiana basketball story," said Michella Marino, deputy director of the Indiana Historical Bureau.
The team left an indelible mark on Johnson County. Books have been written about the teams. The recreational space at what is now the Boys and Girls Club of Franklin, which sits on the site of the burned-down gymnasium of the old high school, is known as the Wonder Five Center.
Wagner and Vandivier, plus team members Burl Friddle, John Gant and Paul Underwood, were all inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Vandivier is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Franklin College’s mascot is the Grizzlies to honor Wagner.
“Given the impact that head coach Ernest ‘Griz’ Wagner had on his players and the collective impact they had on the community it seems only fitting for their story to be told in perpetuity, in Franklin,” said Kerry Prather, newly appointed president of the college. "We are honored that Franklin College, home of the coach’s namesake Grizzlies athletic teams, will be the historical marker’s permanent home.”
The campaign for a marker originated at Franklin College, during a course on public history co-taught by Pfeiffer and Clark-Wiltz.
The class includes a semester-long project that combines the type of research needed for history majors while also getting at the heart of history that engages the community, Clark-Wiltz said.
Applying for a historical marker would fit that perfectly. The county has only three official markers from the Indiana Historical Bureau: for Gov. Paul Vories McNutt and Gov. Roger D. Branigin, both erected in Franklin at their birthsites, and for prolific artist William Merritt Chase in Nineveh.
Students did research on the Wonder Five, compiling evidence of the team’s impact on the community. In order to be considered for a marker, applicants have to demonstrate statewide significance, substantiated with documentation.
Markers must be public-driven, meaning that the people themselves have to be the ones to see the historic value of the subject they’re trying to recognize, Marino said.
The students went through the application, and worked on the text that would be included on the plaque.
Seeing it all come together was an exceptional experience, Clark-Wiltz said.
"It’s the best part of my job, because it’s more meaningful. I see students gaining confidence, alongside the skills that they learn in terms of historical reasoning and research," she said.
Groups apply for a marker, and that application is submitted to be reviewed by a committee at the Indiana Historical Bureau. That committee ranks the topics’ relevance, how important the topic is overall and other criteria.
Topics that deserve a marker are recommended to the bureau’s board, which gives formal approval. The Wonder Five marker was approved in late summer.
"This being the centennial of the team’s first championship, we thought it would be a good time for this to happen.
"It highlights Indiana’s rich basketball history, it shows Franklin and by extension Johnson County’s contribution to Hoosier history, particularly Hoosier Hysteria," Marino said. "What’s interesting, too, for sports fans is how dynamics of the game of basketball have changed. Franklin College was playing other teams like IU, Purdue, Marquette. That is interesting in itself."
Since receiving word in the fall that their application had been accepted, plans have been underway for a community celebration recognizing the distinction. People will gather at 4 p.m. Thursday outside the college fitness center to see the unveiling of the marker.
Organizers have been reaching out to family members and descendants of Wonder Five players, and many are planning to attend the ceremony, Pfeiffer said.
In conjunction with the unveiling of the historical marker, the history museum has planned a special exhibition looking at the team and its impact. Pfeiffer and curator Emily Spuhler worked to tell the team’s story, from the high school years to Franklin College to the impact team members had on basketball in general.
"We love anniversaries, and we thought this was a good way to celebrate this team and its history," Pfeiffer said. "It’s kind of in that danger zone where some people are beginning to forget the Wonder Five story, so this was a great reminder of how awesome this team was."
Yearbook photographs, memorabilia, including an original state championship medallion, and items donated by the community will help people understand the team visually. A lucky horseshoe, which the team always carried around with them, is included with a scrapbook that Vandivier had kept about his career.
"It’s great to see so much community interest in this," Pfeiffer said. "We’ve had so much excitement from the get-go, it’s really been contagious for the staff."
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Centennial Celebration of the Franklin Wonder Five
What: Recognition on the 100th anniversary of the famed Wonder Five winning its first state high school basketball championship in 1920.
When: Thursday
Schedule
1 p.m.: Opening of the Wonder Five exhibition, Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main St., Franklin
4 p.m.: Dedication and unveiling of Wonder Five historical marker, outside the Franklin College Fitness Center, on Grizzly Drive. Reception to follow
Cost: Events are free and open to the public
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