Hall of Fame for Great Americans
The original "Hall of Fame" is the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, a now almost-forgotten institution located in what was originally a campus of New York University and is now Bronx Community College in Bronx, New York.
It was dedicated in 1901, and honorees were elected at five-year intervals from 1900 through 1970, and in 1973. During its heyday the election of new honorees was considered a national news event, and the choices of honorees were a topic of lively public debate.
Honorees include many names that are still familiar (Wilbur and Orville Wright, Benjamin Franklin, John Philip Sousa) and some that seem quite obscure: (Naval officer and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury, astronomer Maria Mitchell, jurist Rufus Choate).
The Hall of Fame includes a 630-foot opendoor colonnade with 98 bronze busts and commemorative plaques, along with three buildings: a library, a Hall of Languages, and a Hall of Philosophy.
