Hall of Fame for Great Americans 1920

About the members of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans for 1920 including Twain, Buchanan, Morton and others.

THE HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS

1920

In 1920 there were 101 electors, so 51 votes were required for election.

William Thomas Morton, physician (72). Morton (1819-1868) was the discoverer of general anesthesia.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), author (72)

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor (67). Clemens (1835-1910) and Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) were the last elected under the 10-years-after-death rule. As of 1922, consideration was extended only to those who had been dead at least 25 years.

Roger Williams, clergyman (66)

Patrick Henry, statesman (57)

Alice Freeman Palmer, educator (53). Important in higher education for women, Palmer (1855-1902) was the last woman elected until 1950.

James Buchanan Eads, engineer (51). Another questionable member who sneaked in. Eads (1820-1887) built the huge steel and masonry bridge spanning the Mississippi at St. Louis. No other engineer or architect has ever been elected.

As before, Louisa May Alcott received the most votes for anyone not later elected--44. Some of the names which gathered votes in 1920 were William Austin Burt, inventor of the typographer; Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the linotype machine; and missionary John Eliot. Author Helen Hunt Jackson was given votes in each election through 1920 (when she got 37), but since then she has not been nominated. Inventor Robert L. Stevens had one vote cast for him in 1920. He had never been nominated before or since.

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