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counting of ballots progressed, it was realized that Booker T. Washington was
the only nominee winning three-fifths support (Grundfest, 1977, pp. 193-208).
It can be noted that John James Audubon won election in 1900 even though
he was bom in Haiti, an oversight. He also had a “Creole” mother, so it was
likely he was the first American of Afncan heritage installed. Nonetheless, it
was considered that Washington was the first Afncan American elected. But
was an Afncan American to be honored as the only new member in 1945?
Quickly, the Senate met and changed election mles (mid-count) back to the
original requirement of majority vote for selection. Five joined Washington as
newly elected members. These included Sidney Lanier, nominated by the
Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1946, the two enjoyed “separate but equal”
installation ceremonies (Nelson, 1990, “Ad Hoc Rules”).
In 1960 Henry David Thoreau was elected, but his supporters balked at
having an expensive ceremony. They felt that it would defile values for which
Thoreau stood. It was difficult to raise $10,000 to sculpt his statue, but the funds
were raised, and he was installed (New York Times, October 28, 1962; Nelson,
1990, “Typical Controversy: Thoreau”). In 1970 Franklin Roos evelt was denied
membership in the only election he ever lost—on his own. He was elected in
1973 (Gmndfest, 1977, p. 204). That was the year financial problems forced
NYU to sell the Bronx campus to the state of New York. It was made the
campus for Bronx Community College (BCC). Control of the Hall passed to
Tmstees, and it was to be financed by both NYU and BCC. There was an
election in 1976—the last. After funding was withdrawn in 1977, the Tmstees
were disbanded. BCC gives custodial care and some security to the facility
(Nelson, 1990, “A Fresh Start”; New York Times, November 15, 1976; New
York Times, January 6, 1977; New York Times, September 17, 1977). Only one
installation took place after 1977—in 1992 a statue of Franklin Roosevelt was
unveiled (New York Times, September 27, 1992). Some grants allowed
restoration work in the 1980s and 1990s, but renewed efforts to raise more funds
were failures.
The Hall of Fame’s slide toward oblivion began slowly. It monopolized the
name “hall of fame” until 1939, when baseball’s “hall” opened. Baseball offered
another model of “fame,” one closer to Andy Warhol’s edict that we would all
enjoy “ 15 minutes of fame.” The population felt closer to “alive” baseball greats
when they were enshrined, as they were not familiar with many of those
enshrined in the Bronx. Many new “halls of fame” were created in the 1950s
and 1960s and they followed the Baseball Hall model of inducting “live” greats
in their field (Danilov, 1997). In the 1960s the nation was consumed with war
protests and concerns about civil rights. Yet the Hall gave little attention to
persons of peace or to minorities. Many of the women in the Hall were remote
figures in history. The Afiican Americans (Washington and Carver) were the
two “negroes” whose achievements were taught to all white school children as
examples of how America could be inclusive, when they really proved the