Historical
The Historical Category is open for deceased New Jerseyans whose contributions transcend any one particular category.

Paul Robeson- Princeton (b. 1898 - d. 1976)
Born in Princeton in 1898, the son of an escaped slave, Paul Robeson graduated from Somerville High School and then attended Rutgers. Even though he faced strong opposition as one of the school’s first African-American students, he excelled in four sports, was twice named an All-American in football and graduated class valedictorian. After earning a Law Degree from Columbia University, he left the legal profession to pursue a career in the performing arts. Internationally acclaimed as scholar, athlete, orator, actor and concert singer, he was a powerful and uncompromising advocate for the full equality of Black Americans. A believer in the “oneness of humankind,” he championed the causes of the disadvantaged worldwide. Although persistently attacked for his political activism, he never regretted his stands. His stellar accomplishments in so many fields are a testimonial to his great character and fortitude.

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Walt Whitman- Camden (b.1819 – d. 1892)
Walt Whitman is considered by many to be the most influential poet in U.S. history. Born on Long Island and raised in Brooklyn, Whitman was largely self-educated. When Leaves of Grass was first published, it was praised by many of the day’s intellectuals, but ignored by the public. It took many years and several editions before the work finally came to be considered a masterpiece. During the Civil War, Whitman lived in Washington where his experienced provided him with fertile material which eventually made him the poet students study today. After the War, he moved to Camden where he spent the last two decades of his life writing, travelling and attaining the international stature he continues to hold today. It was in Camden where he finally completed Leaves of Grass which had grown from a collection of 12 poems to more that 300. He died and was buried in Camden, which his home is operated today as the Walt Whitman House.

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Enterprise
The Enterprise Category is open to scientists, business leaders, inventors, leaders in medicine, entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

Guglielmo Marconi- Wall Township, New Brunswick (b. 1874 – d. 1937)
Wall Township, New Brunswick (b. 1874 – d. 1937) Born in Italy, this celebrated inventor who won the Nobel Prize for his “contribution to the development of wireless technology” came to New Jersey in 1899 and did much of his pioneering work here in our state. Marconi stands our among some of the greatest pioneers of radio communication who called New Jersey home, including Thomas Edison, Lee De Forest and David Sarnoff. Over a 15 year period, Marconi pursued his experiments in several locations from Highlands to New Brunswick, making Hoboken his American home. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun. In 1912, his wireless was renowned for saving those who got into the Titanic lifeboats and made the world realize the value of his wireless system. Finally in 1914, he established a brand of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in Wall Township, where hi built his lab, dormitories and home. It is now the site of the Info Age Science/History Center, which seeks toe preserve Marconi’s memory and excite young people about the field of science.

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Carl Sagan- Rahway (b. 1934 – d. 1996)
A 1951 graduate of Rahway High School, Carl Sagan was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” and went on to study astronomy at the University of Chicago and taught at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the American space program since its inception, serving as a consultant and adviser to NASA since the 1950's. For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and twice for Distinguished Public Service, as well as the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. He also received the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, along with 22 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities. Sagan won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and was the author of many bestsellers, including Cosmos, which became an Emmy and Peabody award-winning television series. An exceptional teacher and scientist, Carl Sagan was no doubt one of the best known scientists of the Twentieth Century.

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Arts & Entertainment
The Arts & Entertainment Category includes musicians, singers, songwriters, actors & actresses, artists, dancers and those who work in the related fields.

Bud Abbott- Asbury Park(b.1898 – d.1974) &
Lou Costello- Paterson)b.1906 – d.1959)
It was on the burlesque circuit in 1936 when William Alexander Abbott of Asbury Park and Louis Francis Cristillo of Paterson met and decided to team up. Signed to Universal in 1939, Abbott & Costello reigned as the new "Kings Of Comedy," producing a solid decade of box office hits. As the country eased into the 1950's, Abbott & Costello tackled a new medium: television as The Abbott & Costello Show debuted in 1952, running for two seasons. In 1956, Abbott & Costello and their Gold Record of "Who's On First" were installed into the Baseball Hall of Fame, making the pair the first non-baseball-playing celebrities ever to be inducted into Cooperstown. Lou Costello passed away in 1959, and Bud Abbott in 1974 - but today, their comedy continues to generate new legions of fans around the world.

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Jon Bon Jovi- Perth Amboy/Sayreville (b. 1962)
This New Jersey native is a rock musician superstar who has won scores of awards for music and for humanitarian work. With his band and as a solo artist, Bon Jovi has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide. His 1988 album, New Jersey, was a commercial smash and became the first hard rock album to spawn five Top Ten singles. Bon Jovi has worked on behalf of the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Project Home, The Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation and other groups. He is the owner of the Philadelphia Soul in the Arena Football league and has numerous film and television credits, including appearances in the movie, U-571 and the TV series, Sex and the City. One of New Jersey’s best known representatives, Bon Jovi recently donated the use of his hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” for a new tourism campaign. We are proud to induct him in to the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

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Jerry Lewis- Newark (b.1926))
Best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), Jerry Lewis is an American icon. Lewis was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the team's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. A respected actor, comedian, film producer, writer, film director and philanthropist, Lewis has won several awards for lifetime achievements and in 2005 he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award presented. In February, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

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Sports
The Sports Category is open not only to athletes, but also to coaches and others in the field of sports.

Althea Gibson- East Orange (b.1927-d.2003)
Born August 25, 1927 in Silver, SC, Althea Gibson grew up in Harlem. A trailblazing athlete, Gibson is often referred to as “Jackie Robinson of tennis.” She won 56 singles and doubles titles during her amateur career in the 1950s before gaining international and national acclaim as a pro. Gibson won 11 major titles in the late 1950s, including singles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U. S. Open, as well as three straight doubles crowns at the French Open. In 1957, she was the first black to be voted by the Associated Press as its Female Athlete of the Year. She won the honor again in 1958. She became New Jersey State Commissioner of Athletics in 1975, a post she held for 10 years. She then served on the State's Athletics Control Board until 1988 and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness until 1992. Gibson died at East Orange General Hospital in 2003 at the age of 76.

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Shaquille O’Neal- Newark (b. 1972)
Born in Newark and spending his youth in the Central Ward, “Shaq” is one of the National Basketball Association’s most famous and formidable players. At 7’ 1”, 325 lbs. with a 23 shoe size, he is famous for his physical stature. The number one overall draft pick in 1992, O’Neal was named the Rookie of the Year in 1992-93 and has gone on to win four NBA championships. He was named the NBA MVP in 2000, has been voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player three times, is a two-time NBA Scoring Champion, and a 15-time All-Star. Shaq is heavily involved with law enforcement agencies, has appeared in a number of films and has released several rap albums, including his platinum debut album.

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Phil Rizzuto- Hillside (b. 1916 - d. 2007)
Phil Rizzuto, “The Scooter,” was a Hall of Fame shortstop for the Yankees during their dynasty of the 1940s and '50s and a beloved member of the team as both a player and a broadcaster. A five-time All Star, Rizzuto was a fixture on the field for 13 seasons and helped the Yankees to seven World Series championships. A great contact hitter and a superb fielder, Rizzuto frequently supplied the ingredients for victory and was the American League's MVP in 1950. After his playing career he moved to the broadcast booth, from where he entertained fans for 40 seasons. If he were with us today to be told of his induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, we are sure the first words out of his mouth would be “Holy Cow!”

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General
The General Category is a large category encompassing educators, military leaders, writers, poets, scholars, religious leaders, civil servants, politicians and others not specifically falling into the other categories.

F. Scott Fitzgerald- Hackensack; Princeton (b.1896-d.1940)
Regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century, Fitzgerald was considered the voice of The Lost Generation of the 1920’s and wrote about the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He attended Newman Prep School in Hackensack, and Princeton University. After serving in the Army, Fitzgerald launched his writing career, during which he wrote more than 160 magazines articles, numerous short stories, as well as four novels. His most famous work, The Great Gatsby, is often considered the classic example of the American novel. He is still one of the most influential novelists in American literature.

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William Carlos Williams- Rutherford (b. 1883 - d. 1963)
Born in Rutherford, Williams began writing poetry at Horace Mann High School, where he also made the decision to become a writer and a doctor. He received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania then returned to Rutherford, where he practiced medicine throughout his life. It is estimated that he delivered as many as 2,000 babies in Rutherford during his career. Williams also embarked on a prolific writing career, publishing poetry, novels, stories, essays, plays, autobiographical works, and letters. His many awards include the first National Book Award for poetry, the Bollingen Prize, and a Pulitzer Prize. An immensely popular doctor, he attained equal popularity as a poet over the years. Allen Ginsburg and the Beat Poets of the 1950s and 1960s regarded him as a most important mentor. Even today, poets and lyricists as diverse as Debbie Harry and Bruce Springsteen acknowledge his influence.