[SPORTS] ISAACS, John. Signed advertisement for Converse ft. NY Renaissance basketball team. 1996.

Printed poster features an enlarged group portrait of the 1938 New York Renaissance, "Rens," originally taken by Morgan & Marvin Smith, showing original caption and date in the negative. Below the image is the Converse logo to the left and a Converse shoe to the right with text, "Made From Genuine Heritage."

John Isaacs has used a black marker to sign and inscribe the poster above his head: "To Earl, the Best, John Isaacs, 10-25-03," and he has inscribed "1938" twice: once on the basketball pictured at the team's feet, and once over the original date written in the negative.

This poster was printed in 1996, evoking the famous team, sometimes know as the "Harlem Rens," which was officially formed in Harlem in October of 1923. It was the first Black-owned and all-Black professional basketball team in history. In 1939, the team won the inaugural World Championship of Professional Basketball, defeating the all-white Oshkosh All Stars in the title game.

John "Boy Wonder" Isaacs (1915-2009) was one of the players of the Rens to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (2015). Joining the team in 1936, Isaacs led the Rens to season records of 122-19, 121-19, and 127-15. After the championship win, Isaacs famously took a blade and cut off the word "Colored" from his jacket, leaving only the words "World Champions." Isaacs would go on to win the title again with the Washington Bears in 1943, and to play on numerous other teams including the Dayton Rens, the Long Island Grumman Hellcats Five, the Hazleton Mountaineers, and the New York Old-Timers.

Some creasing and surface abrasions to poster including some rust-colored abrasions to center of right half, and some separations to edges.

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American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

[SPORTS] ISAACS, John. Signed advertisement for Converse ft. NY Renaissance basketball team. 1996.

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