In 2012, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee oversaw the Hoosier Legacy Awards, a program through which legendary Hoosiers are recognized with column and medallion monuments installed along historic Georgia Street in downtown Indianapolis. GIPC’s Legacy Awards Recommendation Committee evaluated 30 potential honorees in the program’s inaugural year and made recommendations to Mayor Gregory A. Ballard and the City of Indianapolis. Monuments for 10 inaugural honorees were unveiled on March 2, 2012.
The first 10 honorees include:
President Benjamin Harrison: In 1881, the Civil War general was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate. As Senator, he argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He remains the only U.S. President elected from the State of Indiana.
The Lilly Family: The family of Colonel Eli Lilly, through entrepreneurial, civic, and philanthropic acts, has done more for Indianapolis than can be captured in words. This honor is designed to reflect the history and generosity of the family through the decades.
President Abraham Lincoln: The future President spent his youth and formative years in Indiana, and no list of great Hoosiers would be complete without our nation’s 16th and most celebrated President.
J.L. “Wes” Montgomery: This legendary jazz guitarist, Grammy winner, and Indianapolis native has been an influence on musicians for decades.
Ernest “Ernie” Pyle: The American journalist wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1944.
Booth Tarkington: A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author, his novels “The Magnificent Ambersons” – widely considered one of the greatest American novels of all time – and “The Gentleman from Indiana” are both master works based on Tarkington’s experiences in Indianapolis.
May Wright Sewall: The renowned leader of the women’s suffrage movement served as a delegate to the 1st National Suffrage Convention, was President of both the National and International Councils of Women, and co-founded multiple civic organizations in Indianapolis.
Tecumseh: The Shawnee chief, orator, warrior, and diplomat was leader of the Shawnee Confederation and one of the most important Native American leaders in history.
Madame C.J. Walker: This entrepreneur was the first self-made female American millionaire and the wealthiest African-American woman in America during her lifetime.
Lew Wallace: The Civil War General was author of the best-selling American novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,” member of the tribunal that tried the Lincoln conspirators, Governor of the New Mexico Territory, and American Ambassador to the Ottomans.
GIPC’s Legacy Awards Recommendation Committee included:
Deborah Daniels, Past GIPC Chair; Theodore Boehm, Indiana Supreme Court Justice (ret); Gerald Bepko, Chancellor Emeritus, IUPUI; Ray Boomhower, Senior Editor at the Indiana Historical Society; Thomas King, owner, Thomas A. King Consulting; Samuel Odle, Executive Vice President/COO, IU Health; Dr. Patricia Payne, Director of Multi-Cultural Education at Indianapolis Public Schools; Joseph Slash, President of the Indianapolis Urban League; and, Fay Williams, attorney. The panel also relied on the recommendations of several noted historians: Wilma Moore, Senior Archivist of African American History at the Indiana Historical Society; Dale Ogden, Senior Curator of Cultural History at the Indiana State Museum; Stephen E. Towne, Associate University Archivist with IUPUI Special Collections and Archives; and Dr. David Vanderstel, Executive Director of Advancement at Martin University.
The panel considered many factors when weighing its recommendations, including that the person has been deceased at least 20 years, spent a significant portion of his or her life in Indiana, and the person’s accomplishments attained national or international recognition.
Installation of the initial columns honoring these great Hoosiers was made possible through funding from the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee and GIPC. Space is reserved on Georgia Street for approximately 30 monument pillars, and additional Legacy Award honorees will be selected in the future.