located in the Gary Public Library and Cultural Center - 2nd floor East Gallery
The Steel City Hall of Fame is a visual display of over sixty plaques and photographs that honor individuals "who have spent many years forging successful careers and enriching the lives of others through their volunteer gifts of time, energy, talent and substance."
The Gary Public Library was selected to house the Steel City Hall of Fame in March, 1990. The Steel City Hall of Fame Board of Directors is responsible for the content and selection of its inductees. For more information contact Ken Stalling, President, Steel City Hall of Fame, Inc.
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| For more information about the inductees, please visit our Indiana Room. |
History and Purpose
In an effort to promote esteem for the city of Gary and its citizens, Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, encouraged by Monsignor Joseph J. Viater, convened a meeting of citizens on April 10, 1985, to establish the City of Gary Hall of Fame. The induction ceremonies and dinner initiated the city's annual Founders Day Celebration.
From 1985 through 1987, induction ceremonies were a part of our city's Founders Day celebration. During 1988 a Task Force was named by the Gary Hall of Fame Board of Directors to develop a plan that would enhance and broaden the focus of the original design.
Under the guidance of Randall Morgan, Sr., and after a year and a half of concentrated effort, the "Steel City Hall of Fame: Gary's Celebration of Excellence" was born. We are pleased to become an integral part of the new directions of our city; and in a larger sense to join with the renewed national push for voluntary service. Through this annual recognition of educational, interdenominational, corporate, and individual excellence, we hope to build a greater awareness of the role of voluntary, positive contributions in improving our way of life.
Conditions
Permanent enshrinement in the Steel City Hall of Fame is awarded to those individuals (living or deceased), who, while working for twenty-five years or more in a career make broad, significant, and multiple contributions to the Gary community or to society at large.
Race, color, creed, or national origin do not determine an individual's acceptance. Persons so honored must have exemplified what William James described as a "civic passion" as well as a penchant to work for the common good.
Recommendations for Enshrinement
Final selections and elections are made from nominations by the citizens of this community. Individuals, organizations, or agencies may submit nominees on appropriate forms by a designated deadline. A call for nominations will be made annually. Two panels of judges will make the final decisions based on criteria established by the Board of Directors of the Steel City Hall of Fame, Inc.
INDUCTEES
| 1985 Judge Elbert H. Gary Bishop Andrew G. Grutka Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher H. Theodore Tatum William A. Wirt | 1996 Monsignor Joseph J. Viater Al Thomas, Sr. James Holland James L. Dandurand |
1986 | 1997 Anna L. Simmons Finis Springer 1998 |
1987 | 1999 |
| 1988 no inductees | 2000 |
| 1989 Attorney Charles E. Daugherty Ida B. King Mamon Powers, Sr. | 2001 |
| 1990 Eskil Eskilson Rev. Dr. Robert Lowery Lotte Myerson Randall C. Morgan Sr. | 2002 No Inductees |
| 1991 Haron J. Battle, Ph.D Quentin P. Smith Jean Thurman | 2003 |
| 1992 Attorney F. Laurence Anderson, Jr. Congressman Adam Benjamin, Jr. Attorney Hilbert L. Bradley Frankie Woods McCullough Bernard C. Watson, Ph.D. | 2004 No Inductees |
| 1993 Bishop J. Claude Allen Robert Gasser Karl Malden | 2005 |
| 1994 John H. Betjemann Yjean S. Chambers, Litt. H.D. Georgia B. Mitchell, M.D. | 2006 |
| 1995 Thomas V. Barnes Hank Stram Judge Ora L. Wildermuth | 2009 J. Guadalupe Valtierra |