Biographical sketches of mayors and former mayors, including leading elected officials of municipalities where the mayoral system of government is not used.

Provides a comprehensive listing, including biographical information and statistics, of each athlete inducted into one of the major sports halls of fame.

In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame was established to honor the legends of the sport. The first inductees were some of the greatest names of the dugout, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Less than ten years later, in 1945, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its first members. The Soccer Hall of Fame was established in 1950, followed by the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959, and the Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In all, more than 1,400 inductees—players, teams, and behind the scenes personnel—have been enshrined in these five halls of fame. The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia is a comprehensive listing of each inductee elected into one or more of these major sports halls of fame. From Hank Aaron to Fred Zollner, this book contains biographical information, sport and position(s) played, and career statistics (when applicable) of each of the more than 1,400 honorees. The book also includes specific appendixes for each shrine, in which inductees are listed alphabetically and by year of induction. Also included are appendixes briefly describing the history of each hall of fame.

What Mel Pender accomplished is phenomenal in the world of track." -Dr. John Carlos "Mel has a personality of his own...owns not only his footsteps, but everybody else's." -Dr. Tommy Smith "Mel...brought incredible credibility to Army Track..." -Mike Krzyzewski "Coach K" "Captain Pender was a symbol of hope for many young soldiers..." -Brigadier General Richard Dix The strong legs, and quick feet, attached to Melvin Pender's five-foot, five-inch frame, have taken him to first-place finishes as a world-class sprinter. His gift of speed reached a pinnacle when he won a Gold Medal as a member of the 4 x 100 relay team in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The feat was accomplished while Army Captain Pender was a combat soldier who was pulled out of the fighting in Vietnam which was an unpopular war. The story of Pender's life will cause hearts to pound with joy, sadness, anger, and pride, as he chronicles his life's journey from childhood to pre-teen years idolizing the military and his decorated war hero, Audie Murphy, while growing up in two different impoverished and segregated worlds in the South. He was not limited by his surroundings, though, and found good and bad in them. Determination was etched into Pender's DNA, and he wanted to do something to make his family proud, and "be somebody!" His, is a story of the American Dream. He owns it, and he embraces it. He was scarred by the racial challenges of the 1950s and 1960s, but Pender found better angels, black and white, and kept his dream from becoming a racial nightmare. The United States Army and track propelled him into an historic figure. For some, Pender is the track world's "Black Knight," not because of his color, but because he befriended and helped others in his profession as a big brother, father-figure, and as a friend.

THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR: The true story of Professor Edmond Jefferson Oliver, Principal of Fairfield Industrial High School, it's staff, it's students, community, state of Alabama, the Nation and the World!!! By John B. Davis, Class of 1951 Fruit results from planted seeds, when seeds grow, they bear fruit, Galations 5:22, 23 We were taught that the fruit that you have to reach for is the sweetest!! The fruits of his labor are many: the world is blessed with Fairfield Industrial High School (F.I.H.S.) graduates eschewing their accomplishments through serving others!! As one of our graduates, Lois Macon, eloquently proclaimed, "There was a place called FAIRFIELD INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOL and a man named EDMOND JEFFERSON OLIVER and his vision was to educate the coloreds living in a colored community, children of colored parents who worked at colored jobs to send their colored children to a colored school. The visionary, Professor Oliver with head bloody, but unbowed still forged ahead. Each drop of blood in the sand, like living water produced living fruit, sprouting all around is evidence of his passion. He calls to the visionaries and awaits that army to understand that each child of mother F.I.H.S. also has a purpose; that each is, and that is will be is when he or she is!" We, the graduates of Fairfield Industrial High School, are the fruits of his labor and some of our stories are unfolded in this book. Like a plant, Professor Oliver's roots are showing. He grew good people in our small town with honesty, sincerity and dignity! Drop this book on the floor and where ever it opens, it will be excellent reading! This true story is dedicated to our BLACK Community (I choose to capitalize the word (BLACK), because of all the hell we caught and are still catching in this country)!

Includes names from the States of Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.