The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...

(ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame through athletics that reflects positively upon the state, usually through excellence at an educational institution or sporting event in Alabama. The ASHOF was established by state legislative act on August 14, 1967.

Membership

The ASHOF currently lists over 200 inductees, including five of the top 15 athletes selected as the greatest of the last century by ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

. Nationally prominent members include Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...

, Hank Aaron, Joe Louis

Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...

, Willie Mays

Willie Mays

Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...

, Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis

Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were gold. His career spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and...

, Chase Riddle

Chase Riddle

Charles Ludy "Chase" Riddle was an American baseball player, coach, manager and scout. Riddle made his mark in both professional baseball, where he had a 36-year career , mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and in U.S...

, Don Hutson

Don Hutson

Donald Montgomery Hutson was the first star wide receiver in National Football League history. He is considered by many to have been the first modern receiver....

, Shug Jordan and Paul "Bear" Bryant

Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

. A complete list can be found on the museum’s official website.

The museum has an annual induction banquet each year, where it inducts between six and eight persons who have contributed to the athletic arena in some capacity. At least two of these inductees are in the "old-timer" category, which covers persons before the modern sports era.

Each year also brings a "Distinguished Sportsman" inductee. This is usually an Alabama sportsman, but may instead be a "Distinguished American Sportsman", if voted as such by the Board of Directors. Two notable examples of an American Sportsman would be President George Herbert Walker Bush and Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

.

Facility

The ASHOF is located in a 33000 square feet (3,065.8 m²) building in downtown Birmingham, adjacent to the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex

Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex

The Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex is a sports, convention and entertainment complex located in Birmingham, Alabama...

 and across an intersection from the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 headquarters. The collection spans three floors of the building. The facility includes the 75 seat Bryant-Jordan Theater.

Collection

Over 5,000 objects are displayed in the museum. The Heisman Trophies

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 won by Auburn University

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

 athletes Pat Sullivan

Pat Sullivan (American football)

Patrick Joseph Sullivan is an American football coach and former player. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 playing quarterback for the Auburn Tigers and then played in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan is currently the head coach at Samford University...

 and Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson

Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....

 are both displayed, as is a houndstooth

Houndstooth

Houndstooth, houndstooth check or hound's tooth , also known as dogstooth, dogtooth or dog's tooth, is a duotone textile pattern characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes, often in black and white, although other colours are used...

 hat worn by University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 coach “Bear” Bryant, life size dioramas, athletic equipment and historic uniforms.

Museum leadership

The current executive director is Scott Myers, the former owner of the Alabama Steeldogs arena football team. Mr. Myers replaced William Legg, who helped spearhead the revitalization of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 with a new facility. The current museum is a showplace of sports memorabilia and is often used as an example of how an effective sports museum should be presented.

The curator responsible for the display of artifacts is Dr. Avalee Willoughby. She was recognized in 2007 with the Frank "Pig" House Award.

External links

• Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
• Alabama-Mississippi Chapter Hall of Fame (US Lacrosse). National Lacrosse Hall of Fame webpage. US Lacrosse website.