Published: November 24, 2009 10:15 pm         

TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: Walk of Fame honors city’s finest

Among the great things happening in and around Terre Haute to instill more pride in the community is the effort to seize upon the city’s rich and colorful history and bring it front and center for all to see.

Among those efforts is the “Local Legends” Walk of Fame, which is designed to honor individuals who lived in Terre Haute — at least at one time — and went on to record great achievements in their fields and make significant contributions to society.

It was a phenomenal idea hatched a couple years ago by people who saw an opportunity to celebrate the community’s past by honoring those who helped make it so rich and colorful. The project came to fruition last week when the first seven inductees were announced.

It represents an impressive list.

• Theodore Dreiser, the early 20th century novelist.

• Herman Hulman, the father of Hulman & Co., a wholesaler with deep roots in the community. The company still exists today and is going strong as parent company to Clabber Girl and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

• Chauncey Rose, an entrepreneur and developer who founded a railroad company, a downtown hotel that would later become the Terre Haute House, and eventually started a technical school now known as Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

• St. Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College. She recently was canonized a saint by the Catholic Church, the first from Indiana and only the eighth from the United States.

• Benjamin Sherman “Scatman” Crothers, an entertainer with humble roots on South 13th Street who built a successful career that landed him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

• Herman Cox, a native who attended high school and college in Terre Haute before going on to become one of America’s top bacteriologists. His work helped lead to the polio vaccine.

• Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, who had a Hall of Fame career as a professional baseball pitcher despite mangling his hand in a childhood farming accident.

Large plaques honoring each inductee will be anchored in the sidewalk along North Ninth Street and Wabash Avenue, a nice touch that will remind passersby of each individual’s contribution.

There are many more deserving nominees to be added in coming years. Each ceremony will remind us of Terre Haute’s unique history. We commend those whose vision led us to this first class of “legends.”