Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-14
Selections for Hall of Fame
Classed With Some Rejected

While the four names that have been
added to the Hall of Fame are recog-
nised as representing good Judgment on
the part Of the Committee of Election,
their failure on previous balloting Is
subject of comment. It is also mat
ter of surprise to some Americans that
among those who have been rejected
are many to whom history already has
given immortal fame. Those chosen
are Monroe, Whitman, Whistler and
Observing that William Penn failed
of election by six votes" the st. Louis
Post-Dispatch maintains that he has
been secure In his claims to greatness
for more than two centuries" and that
"the man Of peace, the great colonizer
can wait q while, certain OF future
election to the formal honor he now
This honor to whistler and Whitman
helps atone for the neglect and ridicule
allotted to them through most OF their
lives" The Post-Dispatch makes the
comment on the selection of Comdr.
Maury: He was q naval of1cer, OF the
Confederacy in the war years, who did
pioneer work in photographic and
meteorologic research. Ocean travel
and cable service owe debt to his
ocean weather charts. He helped found
the Naval Observatory, he investigated
and currents OF the ma
rine depths, he invented the electric
torpedo"
Pointing out that, "our Hall Of Fame
is to honor those to whom such honor
Is due" the Manchester Union feels
that "it may never fully discharge that
function" stating as to the results.
Even though there might be those VINO
would be inclined to discount election
to the Hall of Fame, still the fact re-
mains that 1t is q national shrine and
that we have had in this country plenty
of men and women whose names might
well be added to the lists. Some OF
them will be in time; some OF them
probably will never achieve election.
And this is no reflection on the Board
of Electors, as another board with an
entirely different personnel would have
accepted certain other names and re-
iected still others. Human beings de-
pend, after all, upon other human beings
for a, recognition of their attachments
in a worldly sense. And We may not
be any binder than most nations when
it comes to the matter of recognizing
the truly great. IneIe are not 80 many
such at the best"
Looking over the list of candidates
failing of election in the 1880 poll /" says
the San Francisco Chronicle, lone is
reminded that Henry Thoreau and
Sidney Lanier appeal to their own select
followings as figures in the American
literary Valhalla. Then there Is Noah
Webster, who, despite his disregard for
plot, wrote book which made his name
a household word for q hundred years.
In another field we md the names Of
StonewalI jackson and Philip Sheridan
far down In the score, although high
military authority sustains the popular
imagination In placing these two men
among the great American captains.
However,, fame Is neither dependant on
nor assured by election to the Hall.
The College of Electors Is doing a service
In endeavoring to make this particular
roll of immortals representative of as
many kinds of worthwhile Americans
as possible
"The electors who registered their
choice" declares the Syracuse Herald