The Great Americans Hall of Fame in the first hall of fame in the United States. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been 98 bronzes. The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York. It was the first hall of fame of its kind in the United States.
Built in 1901 as part of the University Heights campus of New York University (NYU), the structure was designed by architect Stanford White to hide a retaining wall for the Gould Memorial Library. The room commemorates 102 prominent citizens of the United States, selected by an electoral board and grouped into one of fifteen categories. The physical structure consists of a loggia with colonnades that are 630 feet (190 m) long. The colonnades contain niches with plaques and 96 bronze portrait busts.
Designed in neoclassical style by architect Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead & White, it was built as part of the Bronx campus of New York University (NYU). The Hall of Fame became part of the BCC after NYU sold its Bronx campus to the City University of New York in 1973. Located on the iconic Bronx Community College (BCC) campus of the City University of New York (CUNY), the Great Americans Hall of Fame is both the birthplace of fame as an American democratic ideal and the backdrop for midcentury activism by people of color. The University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx grew around the campus, built by New York University (NYU) as its uptown location in the early 20th century.
