The Michigan Walk of Fame, styled on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, honors

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

residents, past or present, who have made significant contributions to the state or nation. Located along central

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

's Washington Square, it aimed to be the first comprehensive Walk of Fame in the nation to honor the contributions of its residents on a statewide basis. Nominations were accepted from people around the state and nation. The first group of Michigan Walk of Fame's inductees were honored on May 25, 2006, during Michigan Week. The 2006 inductees were announced on March 14 Stevie Wonder, Helen Thomas, Jeff Daniels, Dick Ford (Gerald Ford's brother), and many others attended the May 25 event to be formally inducted. The intent was for twelve to be added annually. The second group of inductees was announced in fall 2007. The Walk of Fame was discontinued after 2007.

2006 Inductees

*Actor Jeff Daniels *

Herbert Henry Dow Herbert Henry Dow (February 26, 1866 – October 15, 1930) was a Canadian-born American chemical industrialist who founded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical. He was a graduate of Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, ...

, founder of Dow Chemical *Inventor

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

*President

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

*Automotive pioneer

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

* Emma Genevieve Gillette, the "mother" of the Michigan State Parks system *Sportscaster

Ernie Harwell William Earnest Harwell (January 25, 1918 – May 4, 2010) was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 seasons, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the actio ...

* W.K. Kellogg, founder of Kellogg's *Civil rights activist

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...

* Fannie Richards, A pioneer African-American public school teacher in Detroit and the city's first kindergarten teacher. *Political Journalist

Helen Thomas Helen Amelia Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013) was an American reporter and author, and a long serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from th ...

*Musician & Composer Stevie Wonder

2007 Inductees

*Boxer, Joe Louis Barrow *Educator and linguist, Mack-e-te-be-nessy/ Andrew Blackbird *Automotive pioneer,

William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...

*Mr. Hockey

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

*Dr.

Pearl Kendrick Pearl Louella Kendrick (August 24, 1890 – October 8, 1980) was an American bacteriologist known for co-developing the first successful whooping cough vaccine alongside fellow Michigan Department of Public Health scientist Grace Eldering and ch ...

and Dr.

Grace Eldering Grace Eldering (September 5, 1900 – August 31, 1988) was an American public health scientist, known for her involvement in the creation of a vaccine for whooping cough along with Loney Gordon and Pearl Kendrick. Early life and education Gra ...

, who created a vaccine for Whooping Cough *Inventor,

Elijah McCoy Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) was a Canadian-American engineer of African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines. Born free on the Ontario shore of Lake Erie to parents who fled enslavem ...

*Labor Union Leader,

Walter Reuther Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He ...

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

, famed architect and designer of the St. Louis Arch *

Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New ...

, who created the vaccine for polio * Mary Spencer, Michigan's first state librarian *Actor and philanthropist,

Danny Thomas Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running sitc ...

/Muzyad Yahkoob

References

External links

MI Walk of Fame Announces First Inductees 3/14/2006 (visited March 15, 2006

List of Stars
with texts of the plaques {{coord, 42, 44, 01, N, 84, 33, 08, W, region:US-MI_type:landmark, display=title Culture of Lansing, Michigan Walks of fame Halls of fame in Michigan State halls of fame in the United States Tourist attractions in Lansing, Michigan 2006 establishments in Michigan