The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, 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.[1][2]
The ASHOF currently lists over 300 inductees, including five of the top 15 athletes selected as the greatest of the last century by ESPN. Nationally prominent members include Jesse Owens, Hank Aaron, Joe Louis, Willie Mays, Carl Lewis, Chase Riddle, Don Hutson, Shug Jordan, Howard Hill, and Paul "Bear" Bryant.[1][3] 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 "seniors" 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 are president George Herbert Walker Bush and Bob Hope.
The ASHOF is located in a 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) building in downtown Birmingham, adjacent to the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex and across an intersection from the Southeastern Conference headquarters. The current museum building was completed in 1992. The collection spans three floors of the building.[1] The facility includes the 75 seat Bryant-Jordan Theater.[4]
En el museo se exponen más de 5.000 objetos. Se exhiben los Trofeos Heisman ganados por los atletas de la Universidad de Auburn, Pat Sullivan y Bo Jackson , al igual que un sombrero de pata de gallo usado por el entrenador de la Universidad de Alabama, “Bear” Bryant, dioramas de tamaño natural, equipo deportivo y uniformes históricos. [1] [4]
El actual director ejecutivo es Scott Myers, ex socio director del equipo de fútbol americano Alabama Steeldogs . Myers reemplazó a William Legg, quien ayudó a encabezar la revitalización del Salón de la Fama del Deporte de Alabama en 1992 con una nueva instalación. El museo actual es un escaparate de recuerdos deportivos y a menudo se utiliza como ejemplo de cómo debe presentarse un museo deportivo eficaz.
La curadora responsable de la exhibición de artefactos es la Dra. Avalee Willoughby. Fue reconocida en 2007 con el premio Frank "Pig" House.
33°31′27.08″N 86°48′41.16″O / 33.5241889°N 86.8114333°W / 33.5241889; -86.8114333