St. Louis Walk of Fame

St. Louis Walk of Fame
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. 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.
, the walk has more than 150 brass stars and bronze plaques, each bearing an inscription of an inductee's name and a summary of his or her accomplishments. The stars and plaques are set into the sidewalks along a stretch of Delmar Boulevard in the Delmar Loop area, spanning the border between St. Louis and University City.
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. 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.
Cedric the Entertainer received the first star and plaque located in the City of St. Louis part of the loop, in May of 2008. The walk, and the boundaries of the Delmar Loop in general, have been expanded eastward by Edwards in recent years, as Edwards continues to invest in the area's redevelopment.
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. 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;"
or
"university chancellors, previous inductees and representatives of arts organizations, historical societies and libraries."
Prior to 2007, the open-air induction ceremony was held regularly on the third week of May; since then, it is held on a less regular basis, subject to the availability of those being inducted.
Some of the walk's inductees, including Dick Gregory, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Ozzie Smith, are also in the nearby, unrelated Gateway Classic Hall of Fame.
Inductees
Maya Angelou
Henry Armstrong
Josephine Baker
Scott Bakula
Fontella Bass
Mel Bay
James "Cool Papa" Bell
Thomas Hart Benton
Yogi Berra
Chuck Berry
Susan Blow
Christine Brewer
Lou Brock
Robert S. Brookings
Jack Buck
Grace Bumbry
T Bone Burnett
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
Rose Philippine Duchesne
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
Lee Falk
Eugene Field
The Fifth Dimension
Curt Flood
Redd Foxx
David Francis
Frankie Muse Freeman
Joe Garagiola Sr.
Dave Garroway
William Gass
Martha Gellhorn
Bob Gibson
John Goodman
Betty Grable
Evarts Graham
Ulysses S. Grant
Dick Gregory
Charles Guggenheim
Robert Guillaume
Henry Hampton
Walker Hancock
John Hartford
Donny Hathaway
Whitey Herzog
Al Hirschfeld
William Holden
Rogers Hornsby
A. E. Hotchner
William Inge
Hale Irwin
The Isley Brothers
William B. Ittner
Johnnie Johnson
Scott Joplin
Elizabeth Keckley
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Albert King
Kevin Kline
Pierre Laclede
Rocco Landesman
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Charles Lindbergh
Theodore Link
Elijah Lovejoy
Ed Macauley
Marsha Mason
Masters and Johnson (William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson)
Bill Mauldin
Virginia Mayo
Tim McCarver
Michael McDonald
Robert McFerrin Sr.
David Merrick
Archie Moore
Marianne Moore
Agnes Moorehead
Stan Musial
Nelly (Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.)
Howard Nemerov
Butch O'Hare
Gyo Obata
Ridley Pearson
Marlin Perkins
Mike Peters
Bob Pettit
Vincent Price
Joseph Pulitzer
Harold Ramis
Judy Rankin
Peter Raven
Paul C. Reinert
Branch Rickey
The Rockettes
Irma S. Rombauer
Janice Rule
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
Carl Wimar
Shelley Winters
Harriett Woods
Chic Young
See also
List of awards for contributions to culture
List of halls and walks of fame
List of people from St. Louis
References
External links
stlouiswalkoffame.org, the walk's official website
1989 establishments in Missouri
Awards established in 1989
Awards for contributions to culture
Halls of fame in Missouri
Missouri-related lists
Walks of fame
Tourist attractions in St. Louis