Even from its inception, the Hall of Fame was not locked into a straightforward trajectory. Stanford White, who designed the Hall with Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken, was said to have considered the Hall “an afterthought.” In fact, the space behind the Gould Memorial Library was originally planned to be a “19th-century cabinet of curiosities”. Today’s colonnade, which hosts the busts of iconic Americans, would have been stocked with historic miscellany; whatever items were in the campus’ custody. This museum-like concept would have been a far cry from the modern Hall of Fame.

Serendipity alone was not enough to support the monument throughout its existence. Budget and fundraising issues plagued the commissioning of new busts. This was only compounded after NYU withdrew funding for the monument in 1977. Four figures, who won election, are still missing from the Hall: Andrew Carnegie (1976), Clara Barton (1976), Luther Burbank (1976), and Justice Louis Brandeis (1973). Spaces for Henry David Thoreau (1960) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1976) almost similarly left dormant, until thousands of dollars poured in by fundraisers demanding their installation. However, FDR is a bittersweet bookend to the story of the Hall of Fame’s residents. Installed in 1992, almost two decades since his induction, he is the final “Great American” elected to the position. The electors and trustees that once presided over the induction process would need to be reformed for this to change.

Stewardship of the monument has adapted somewhat over time. More extreme plans include its wholesale relocation. Proposed sites included the Bronx Botanical Gardens, the National Mall in Washington DC, the World Trade Center complex, and Liberty State Park in New Jersey to name a few. Ironically, this custodial solution fell through due to lack of funds. Even at home, in The Bronx, many plans for its preservation remain lost to time. The 1990s saw a massive, million dollar renovation of the site and the early 2000s saw grassroots pledges from concerned citizens. Unfortunately, proposed support groups like the Friends of the Hall of Fame never materialized and follow-up grants were never reached. Campaigning from the Cultural Landscape Foundation—in its Landslide 2018: Grounds for Democracy initiative—highlighted the need for extensive repairs, but the 12 million dollars necessary is still forthcoming.

References Barron, J. (2018). Why the Hall of Fame for Great Americans is ‘at risk’. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/nyregion/hall-of-fame-bronx-sculptures.html#:~:text=That%20is%20not%20the%20only,toll%20on%20the%20century%2Dold McShane, L. (2004). Fame is fleeting for original Hall of Fame. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-20-adna-fame20-story.html Rubin, R. (1997). Mall of fame: Even in neglect, a shrine to our society's values embodies them still (Hall of Fame for Great Americans), 280(1). The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/07/the-mall-of-fame/376903/ TCLF Editor. (2018). American pantheon: the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.tclf.org/american-pantheon-hall-fame-great-americans Thompson, W. N., & Joaquin, E. (n.d.). The Hall of Fame for Great Americans: organizational comatosis or hibernation? History News Network. Retrieved from https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/121081