St. Louis Walk of Fame
St. Louis Walk of Fame | |
---|---|
![]() St. Louis Walk of Fame logo | |
Sponsored by | Established by Joe Edwards |
Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
Country | United States |
Reward(s) | Brass star and bronze plaque embedded into the sidewalk along Delmar Boulevard |
First awarded | 1989 |
Website | stlouiswalkoffame.org |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Walk-of-fame-joe-edwards.jpg/220px-Walk-of-fame-joe-edwards.jpg)
The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors notable people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to the culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years there.[1] Contribution can be in any area; most of the current inductees made their achievements in acting, entertainment, music, sports, art/architecture, broadcasting, journalism, science/education and literature.[2]
As of April 2014[update], the walk consisted of 137[3] brass stars and bronze plaques, each containing an inductee's name and a summary of his or her accomplishments. The stars and plaques are set into the sidewalks of Delmar Boulevard in the Delmar Loop area, which is mostly in University City, Missouri, an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis. The walk is about five miles (eight kilometres) west of the indoor Gateway Classic Walk of Fame,[4] a recognition given by another organization, though some, including Dick Gregory, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Ozzie Smith, have received hall of fame recognition from both St. Louis groups.[5][6]
Selection process
Anyone can submit a nomination by mail by supplying basic identification information as well as a description of the nominee's accomplishments and connection to St. Louis.[1][3] About 30 to 40 finalists are culled from the nominees by the walk's founder and director; the finalists are sent to a selection committee of 120 St. Louisans. The selection committee has been variously described as
- "the chancellors of all area universities, key people from local libraries, arts organizations and historical societies, media journalists, and other citizens with an informed understanding of St. Louis' cultural heritage.".;[1] or
- "university chancellors, previous inductees and representatives of arts organizations, historical societies and libraries"[3]
Prior to 2007, the open-air induction ceremony was always been held the third week of May, though more recently it has depended on the availability of the latest inductees.[3]
History
The walk was founded by developer Joe Edwards, owner of Blueberry Hill pub/restaurant and other establishments located along the walk. Its first stars and plaques were installed in 1989; the inductees that year were musician Chuck Berry, dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham, bridge builder James B. Eads, poet T. S. Eliot, ragtime composer Scott Joplin, aviator Charles Lindbergh, baseball player Stan Musial, actor Vincent Price, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and playwright Tennessee Williams.[7] Ten more were selected for each of the next four years (in order to get the walk established), but starting in 1994 no more than three have been awarded in any year.[3]
In May 2008, Cedric the Entertainer received the first star and plaque located in the City of St. Louis portion of the loop.[8] The walk (and the boundaries of the Delmar Loop in general) has been expanded eastward by Edwards in recent years as Edwards continues to invest in the area's redevelopment.[3]
Inductees
- Maya Angelou
- Henry Armstrong
- Josephine Baker
- Fontella Bass
- Mel Bay
- James "Cool Papa" Bell
- Yogi Berra
- Chuck Berry
- Susan Blow
- Lou Brock
- Robert S. Brookings
- Jack Buck
- Grace Bumbry
- William S. Burroughs
- Harry Caray
- Cedric the Entertainer (Cedric Antonio Kyles)
- Kate Chopin
- Auguste Chouteau
- William Clark
- Bill Clay (William L. Clay)
- Barry Commoner
- Arthur Holly Compton
- Jimmy Connors
- Carl and Gerty Cori
- Bob Costas
- John Danforth
- William Danforth
- Dwight Davis
- Miles Davis
- Dizzy Dean
- Dan Dierdorf
- Phyllis Diller
- Katherine Dunham
- Robert Duvall
- James B. Eads
- Tom Eagleton
- Charles Eames
- Gerald Early
- Buddy Ebsen
- T. S. Eliot
- William Greenleaf Eliot
- Stanley Elkin
- Mary Engelbreit
- Walker Evans
- Eugene Field
- The Fifth Dimension
- Redd Foxx
- Joe Garagiola, Sr.
- Dave Garroway
- William Gass
- Bob Gibson
- John Goodman
- Betty Grable
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Dick Gregory
- Charles Guggenheim
- Robert Guillaume
- John Hartford
- Al Hirschfeld
- William Holden
- Rogers Hornsby
- A. E. Hotchner
- William Inge
- William B. Ittner
- Johnnie Johnson
- Scott Joplin
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- Albert King
- Kevin Kline
- Pierre Laclede
- Rocco Landesman
- Charles Lindbergh
- Theodore Link
- Elijah Lovejoy
- Ed Macauley
- Marsha Mason
- Masters and Johnson (William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson)
- Bill Mauldin
- Virginia Mayo
- Michael McDonald
- Robert McFerrin, Sr.
- David Merrick
- Archie Moore
- Marianne Moore
- Agnes Moorehead
- Stan Musial
- Nelly (Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr.)
- Howard Nemerov
- Gyo Obata
- Marlin Perkins
- Mike Peters
- Bob Pettit
- Vincent Price
- Joseph Pulitzer
- Harold Ramis
- Judy Rankin
- Peter Raven
- Paul C. Reinert
- Branch Rickey
- The Rockettes
- Irma Rombauer
- Charles M. Russell
- David Sanborn
- Red Schoendienst
- Dred and Harriet Scott
- Ntozake Shange
- Henry Shaw
- William T. Sherman
- George Sisler
- Leonard Slatkin
- Jackie Smith
- Ozzie Smith
- Willie Mae Ford Smith
- Max Starkloff
- Sara Teasdale
- Clark Terry
- Kay Thompson
- Henry Townsend
- Helen Traubel
- Ernest Trova
- Ike Turner
- Tina Turner
- Mona Van Duyn
- Dick Weber
- Mary Wickes
- Tennessee Williams
- Shelley Winters
- Harriett Woods
See also
References
- ^ a b c Staff (n.d.). "Nomination Criteria". St. Louis Walk of Fame. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
- ^ Database (n.d.). "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". St. Louis Walk of Fame. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Caba, Susan (June 2007). "Famous Folks – St. Louis History 101". stlcommercemagazine.com. Retrieved August 22, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ "Gateway Classic Walk of Fame : St. Louis, MO". ExploreStLouis.com. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
- ^ [dead link] ":: St. Louis Gateway Classic ::". Gatewayclassic.org. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
- ^ "Multicultural St. Louis". ExploreStLouis.com. January 28, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ [dead link] [1]. ExploreStLouis.com.
- ^ Johnson, Kevin C. (May 30, 2008). "St. Louis Walk of Fame Welcomes Cedric the Entertainer". The Blender (blog of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Retrieved August 22, 2012.
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External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- stlouiswalkoffame.org, the walk's official website