On Thursday, the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, held the 2015 South Shore Legends Induction Ceremony in which they inducted three new members into their Wall of Legends.
This year’s inductees included the Gary Roosevelt and Crispus Attucks Basketball Teams who battled each other for the state title in 1955, Lewis “Lew” Wallace who wrote the mega-hit Ben-Hur in the late 19th century, and the Fighting 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry renowned for being in the forefront of Civil War history.
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“We’re very happy to have the Wall of Legends in the Visitor’s Center,” said Speros Batistatos, President and CEO of the SSCVA. “It’s a great way to tell the more than three million people that come here every year about the personalities and the people who have shaped not just the region, but the nation. Just looking at that wall there’s The Jackson 5, Carl Malden, Tony Zale and Jean Shepherd. These are people from this region who have had a profound impact on their areas of focus so we’re very proud to host tonight’s event.”
Continuing a tradition started in 2004, these Legends inductees were described as, “helping to define a changing America to the world,” said John Davies, Wall of Legends volunteer coordinator and founder. “These individuals exemplify the values that built this country and are great models for our children and future generations.”
In 1955, two groups of African-American high school athletes came together for the first time in American history, to compete in a state championship basketball game.
“Nothing like it had been seen before,” said nominator Chuck Hughes, executive director, Gary Chamber of Commerce.
The athletic abilities and talents displayed on March 19, 1955 in the Butler Fieldhouse in Indianapolis changed basketball forever. Yet the impact of that night resonated well beyond the basketball court, for it served as one of the earliest events in the nation to further equality and justice for all Americans.
Lewis “Lew” Wallace was an American lawyer, Union General in the Civil War, governor of the New Mexico territory, politician, diplomat and author from Indiana. Wallace’s most notable work was “Ben Hur” written in 1880.
“He is often linked with writing this book in Crawfordsville, IN, where he retired, but he also spent part of his writing career in Starke County where he wrote other books and visited with Civil War veterans,” said Charles Weaver, Executive Director at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation.
From President Abraham Lincoln’s call for able-bodied Union Army volunteers in 1861 to Confederate General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Va., in 1865, fighting Hoosiers of the 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry stood on the front lines of nearly every major battle in the eastern theater.
Also recognized at the ceremony as a Legends Scholar was Brittany A. Penny who is a nursing student at Purdue North Central. Penny was the 12th university student in the region to be recognized as a Legends Scholar and receive a $1,000 scholarship.