On this day in Alabama history: Men’s Hall of Fame created
The Rushton Memorial Carillon bell tower sits atop Samford University's Harwell Goodwin Davis Library. Constructed in 1968, the carillon, named for insurance executive and Samford patron William J. Rushton, was originally housed at Reid Chapel and was moved to the top of the library in 1979. It contains 60 bells, each of which bears an inscribed poem about bells. The library also is home to the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame. (Andy Montgomery, Flickr; Encyclopedia of Alabama)
August 13, 1987
Located at Samford University in Birmingham, the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame (AMHOF) honors men born in or closely associated with Alabama who have made significant contributions on a state, national or international level. Among the honorees are household names such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black as well as lesser-known figures including pioneering legislator John Sparkman and state archives founder Thomas McAdory Owen. The hall of fame was the brainchild of Lois Whitten, a community volunteer and a founder of the Women’s Committee of 100 for Birmingham. She proposed the AMHOF in 1979, and the Legislature approved its creation eight years later. Nominations for the Hall are accepted from the public annually. Nominees must be deceased for at least two years.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
The laurel wreath enclosing the name of the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame has been the organization’s logo since its inception in the late 1980s. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
