American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame
Performance | Pioneer | Meritorious Service
History
The American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame was founded in 1941 as the third oldest sports shrine in the United States after baseball (1936) and golf (1940). The Hall was the brainchild of Eli Whitney, ABCs first public relations director. He was inducted into the ABC Halls Meritorious Service Section in 1975.
Eleven men entered the Hall in the first induction ceremonies in 1941. The Hall was governed by a Board of Directors equally made up by representatives of the Hall, ABC and the Bowling Writers Association of America. The Hall had three committees that met annually, Veterans, Meritorious Service and Ballot. The Veterans committee studied the records of older bowlers who might have been passed over for various reasons. The Meritorious Service committee studied the records of contributors who had national impact. The committee elected those people with 70% required for election.
The Ballot committee studied the records of current bowlers and forwarded those who qualified to either the regular or non-pro national ballot. The first requirement was 20 years of participation in the ABC National Championships Tournament. To be elected, the bowler must have received 70% of the votes cast. A second ballot among the highest three vote getters could be held with specific requirements to be elected.
A special Pioneer committee was formed in 1990 to elect people who were at the foundation of bowling history including some who excelled before the beginning of ABC in 1895. The committee did not meet annually.
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