The Hall of Fame for Great Americans
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Library rotunda should be given over to other halls of fame. These should be
allies and not rivals. The full range of halls should be recognized by a listing and
also for pictorial displays and information. There can be displays of concepts of
greatness. This display area could utilize basement areas of the Library which
were originally to be a museum.
Third, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans reflects values of the America
of its electors, an America that is somewhat of a present but essentially is an
America of a past. That past should not be denigrated, but it should be
recognized as a time that has been “a changing,” and that in any complete sense,
is no more. The Hall of Fame should be a frozen as if an object in an historical
museum. The 102 members should represent the complete collection. Busts of
four members without statues should be finished.
Fourth, a contemporary virtual Hall of Fame For Great Americans should
be created with new ongoing elections. Visitors to this new ongoing Hall of
Fame should be allowed to cast votes, and vote totals should be displayed in
Gould Library. The list should be posted and also available online.
Fifth, ownership and control of the Hall of Fame should go to a new quasi
independent authority, associated with the state-sponsored City University of
New York. The name of the sponsoring college should be changed away from
the generic “Bronx Community College,” an entity that has had any existence
only since the mid-1950s. That college should become known as “The Hall of
Fame College of the City University of New York.”
No doubt, there are plenty of other ways to make the Hall rise again. Ideas
are needed. Our suggestions aim to re-awaken this important American
institution at a time when our country struggles to conquer many divisions. A
reborn Hall of Fame for Great Americans can be part of a national renewal of
unity through historical appreciation.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
William N. Thompson
Maria Emita Joaquin
Selected References
Banks, Louis Albert. 1902. The Story o f the Hall o f Fame. New York: The Christian
Herald.
Danilov, Victor J. 1997. Hall o f Fame Museums. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.
Grundfest, Jerry. Editor. Great Americans: A Guide to the Hall o f Fame for Great
Americans. 1977. New York: New York University.
Johnson, Robert Underwood. 1935. Your Hall o f Fame. New York: New York
University.
MacCracken, Henry Mitchell. 1901. The Hall o f Fame. New York and London: G.P.
Putnam and Sons. 292 pp. 221 pp.
MacCracken, Henry Mitchell. 1900 (July-December). “The Hall of Fame.” The
American Monthly Review o f Reviews. 22:563-570.
Nelson, Clifford Colmer. 1990 (revised 1993, 1997). Taking Pains: The Hand o f Noah
and the Hall o f Fame. Unpublished Manuscript in Archives of the Hall of Fame for