The Walk of Fame

What is the Walk of Fame?

Founded in 2016, the Northern Appalachian Folk Festival’s “Walk of Fame” recognizes the important contributions made by residents of the Northern Appalachian region including and not limited to the fields of education, the environment, human rights, the arts and sports.

Nominees are inducted into the “Walk of Fame” at an annual ceremony that takes place during each Northern Appalachian Folk Festival Inc. festival. Inscribed bricks are then placed into the sidewalks, much like the Hollywood Stars, so that we can remember the great individuals of our region for years to come.

Mae & Gene Nance, Kathy Abby-Baker and Jim Dougherty, watch Drew Nance place Jim Nance's brick in the Walk of Fame

WALK OF FAME INDUCTEES, 2023

Public Health

Granny Women of Appalachia

Amanda Poole, Inductor

Documented as serving in the midwife capacity from the 1880s to the 1930s, the “granny-woman,” often was the only line of defense regarding childbirth support practices for many childbearing age women living in the region during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The early twentieth century saw the granny-women discredited and subject to elimination as a result of a purposeful campaign conducted by the male-dominated medical profession. Using knowledge of herbal remedies, the granny-woman played an integral part in the survival of the inhabitants of the region, especially related to childbirth. These centuries-old, herbal-based ministrations have been explored to aid in dispelling the erroneous conclusions related to the vital community role fulfilled by the Appalachian granny-woman. Possessing knowledge of herbal-based childbirth prevention measures, the Appalachian granny-woman rarely provided specifics related to the use of these measures by the women living in the region during that era.

Music

Stephen Foster

Lenwood Sloan - Inductor

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna", "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer", and many of his compositions remain popular today.

In spite of the strong association of Foster and his song lyrics with the South, he only visited it once, during his 1852 honeymoon.[4]

He has been identified as "the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century" and may be the most recognizable American composer in other countries.[5] Most of his handwritten music manuscripts are lost, but editions issued by publishers of his day feature in various collections.[

Foster was born on July 4, 1826,[9] in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. His parents, William Barclay Foster and Eliza Clayland Tomlinson Foster, were of Ulster Scots and English descent. He had three older sisters and six older brothers. He attended private academies in Allegheny, Athens, and Towanda, Pennsylvania

The Arts

August Wilson

Lenwood Sloan - Inductor

August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America".[1] He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle (or The Century Cycle), which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. Plays in the series include Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990), both of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984) and Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1988). In 2006, Wilson was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

His works delve into the African-American experience as well as examinations of the human condition. Other themes range from the systemic and historical exploitation of African Americans, as well as race relations, identity, migration, and racial discrimination. Viola Davis said that Wilson's writing "captures our humor, our vulnerabilities, our tragedies, our trauma. And he humanizes us. And he allows us to talk."[2] Since Wilson's death two of his plays have been adapted into films: Fences (2016) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). Denzel Washington has shepherded the films and has vowed to continue Wilson's legacy by adapting the rest of his plays into films for a wider audience.[3] Washington said, "the greatest part of what's left of my career is making sure that August is taken care of"

Human Rights

Albert Hazlett

Denise Doyle-Jennings, Inductor

A staunch abolitionist, Hazlett became a lieutenant in John Brown’s provisional army and participated in the raid on Harper’s Ferry Arsenal in 1859. He was captured, tried, convicted, and hanged for his involvement following the failed Harper’s Ferry attack. This incident, intended to arm slaves to fight for their own freedom, was a major catalyst for the outbreak of the Civil War. Hazlett was born and raised near here.

Chief Cornplanter:

Abagail Adams, Inductor

John Abeel III (born between 1732 and 1746–February 18, 1836),[2] known as Gaiänt'wakê (Gyantwachia – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (Kaintwakon – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplanter, was a Dutch-Seneca war chief and diplomat of the Wolf clan. As a chief warrior, Cornplanter fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. In both wars, the Seneca and three other Iroquois nations were allied with the British. After the war Cornplanter led negotiations with the United States and was a signatory of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784). He helped gain Iroquois neutrality during the Northwest Indian War.

In the postwar years, Cornplanter worked to learn more about European-American ways and invited Quakers to establish schools in Seneca territory. Disillusioned by his people's poor reaction to European-American society, he had the schools closed and followed his half-brother Handsome Lake's movement returning to the traditional Seneca way and religion. The United States government granted him about 1500 acres of former Seneca territory in Pennsylvania in 1796 for "him and his heirs forever", which became known as the Cornplanter Tract.

After Cornplanter's lineage died off, the tract was planned by the federal government to be flooded as the site of a man-made reservoir after 1965 by completion of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River. The remains of Cornplanter, his descendants, and an 1866 monument to him were relocated. Most of the remaining residents were forced to relocate to the Allegany Reservation of the federally recognized Seneca Nation of New York; they lost much of their fertile farmland.

Environment

Rosalie Barrow Edge
Sara King, Inductor

Rosalie Barrow Edge (November 3, 1877 – November 30, 1962) was an American environmentalist and suffragist. In 1929, she established the Emergency Conservation Committee to expose the conservation establishment's ineffectiveness and advocate for species preservation. In 1934, Edge also founded the world's first preserve for birds of prey—Hawk Mountain Sanctuary near Kempton, Pennsylvania. Edge was considered the most militant conservationist of her time,[1] and she clashed publicly for decades with leaders of the Audubon Society over approaches to wildlife preservation. An environmentalist colleague described her in 1948 as "the only honest, unselfish, indomitable hellcat in the history of conservation".

Sports

Elroy Face

Tony DeLoreto, Inductor

Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928), nicknamed The Bullpen Baron,[a] is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. During a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A pioneer of modern relief pitching, he was the archetype of what came to be known as the closer, and the National League's greatest reliever until the late 1960s, setting numerous league records during his career.

Face was the first major leaguer to save 20 games more than once, leading the league three times and finishing second three times; in 1959 he set the still-standing major league record for winning percentage with a minimum of 13 decisions (.947), and single-season wins in relief, with 18 wins against only one loss. He held the NL record for career games pitched (846) from 1967 until 1986, and the league record for career saves (193) from 1962 until 1982; he still holds the NL record for career wins in relief (96), and he held the league mark for career innings pitched in relief (1,211+1⁄3) until 1983. On his retirement, Face ranked third in major league history in pitching appearances, behind only Hoyt Wilhelm and Cy Young, and second in saves behind Wilhelm. He holds the Pirates franchise records for career games (802) and saves (188).

Education

Rick Peduzzi

Inductor - TBA

1955-2012

Rick Peduzzi was the Technology and Education Specialist for the United Electrical Workers (UE) Union.

After teaching sociology and organizing five nationally recognized conferences at IUP, he joined the UE national Office in 1987 as a reporter for the UE NEWS and later became the union's education director. In that capacity he produced nationally acclaimed educational booklets and leadership training materials. These included the "UE Stewart Handbook," "UE Stewart Pocket Guide," "Aims and Structure: How Rank-and-File Unionism Works, and "Open Books, Tight Fists: Financial Integrity in a Rank & File Union. He was co-author of "Solidarity and Democracy: A Leadership Guide to UE History." He revived publication of the monthly "UE Stewart," which had ceased in the 1950s. Rick co-produced the massive "UE Leadership Guide," the all inclusive user's manuel for operating a rank-and-file local union. He also produced highly sophisticated videos which were used in organizing campaigns and in membership education.

In the mid-1990s he started the UE's website and continued to develop and improve it over the years. Rick's work as webmaster won the union International honors in 2009 when readers of "LabourStart.org," the global labor news website based in Britain, voted the UE website "Labor Website of the Year."

2022 Walk of Fame Inductees were:

Music: Ann Feeney
Inductor: Rob Moore
Arts: Kamal Yousef
Inductor: Hisham Youssef
Education: Richard Trumka
Inductor: Rachel Sternfeld, President Indiana Armstrong Central Labor Council
Public Health: Father George Hnatko
Inductor: Jim Watta
Environment: Joseph Rothrock
Inductor: Sara King
Human Rights: Robert Mitchel
Inductor: Theo Turner
Sports: Jim Thorpe
Inductor: Abigail Adams

more information to come!

2021 Walk of Fame Inductees were

The Environment:

Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946), first head of the United States Forest Service and 28th governor of Pennsylvania, for his work with the environment.

Sports

Carlton Haselrig (1966-2020), who won six NCAA titles in wrestling, three times in Division II, three times in Division I, while at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and was an All-Pro offensive guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets, as a sports standout.

Human Rights

John Brown (1800-1859), perhaps better known for his seizure of the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry (then in Virginia, now West Virginia), but also was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, for which Indiana County was a pivotal way station, as an example of someone who worked for human rights. John Brown was an American abolitionist leader. He first gained national attention when he led anti-slavery volunteers and his own sons during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of the late 1850s, a state-level civil war over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave state or a free state.

The Arts

Ken “Hiram” Holliday (1945-2019), who is being remembered for a well-known love for music, dating to his playing trumpet in the marching band at Indiana High School.

“Local music legend and coal miner, a multi-instrumentalist whose 60+ year career in the arts began in the Indiana High School marching band”. Ken Holliday, most notably known as HIRAM, enjoyed performing throughout Indiana County, Western Pennsylvania, and the tri-state region since 1959. His musical group, HIRAM & the Walkers, performed for weddings, clubs, community events, and donated their talents to anyone in need, from fire victims, cancer benefits, church festivals and nursing homes.

Education:

Mother Jones

Mary G. Harris Jones known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She helped coordinate major strikes and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World.

After Jones' husband and four children all died of yellow fever in 1867, and her dress shop was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, she became an organizer for the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers union. In 1902, she was called "the most dangerous woman in America" for her success in organizing mine workers and their families against the mine owners. In 1903, to protest the lax enforcement of the child labor laws in the Pennsylvania mines and silk mills, she organized a children's march from Philadelphia to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt in New York.

After departing from the coal miner strike of Blair Mountain (Matewan) in West Virginia, she gave her first public speech at a Labor Day rally at Mack Park in Indiana PA, 1921.

Public Health:

Jonas Salk An American virologist and researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New York and New York University School of Medicine. [2] In 1947, Salk accepted a professorship in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. It was there that he undertook a project to determine the number of different types of poliovirus, starting in 1948. For the next seven years, Salk devoted himself towards developing a vaccine against polio.

Salk was immediately hailed as a "miracle worker" when the vaccine's success was first made public in April 1955, and chose to not patent the vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution.[2] An immediate rush to vaccinate began in both the United States and around the world.

2020 Inductees were:

Education - Lucy Donnelly

Daughter of R. Hastie and Lucilla O’Hare Ray, was born on November 29, 1929 in Indiana Pa.

Following attendance at IUP’s Keith Hall laboratory school, she graduated from in Indiana High School in 1943. She went on to attend Bucknell University, New York University and finally at IUP.

She worked for The Associated Press and Look magazine in New York City before becoming part owner of the Palm Beach News Service in Florida.

In 1950 she returned to Indiana and began her career with the Indiana Gazette as coordinator in all facets of newspaper management and production. She served as a photographer and society page reporter and also immersed herself in the rapidly changing technology of the industry.

Mrs. Donnelly was always active in news and professional organizations. She was a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association. She was also active in the Associated Press at the state and national levels.

Her loyalty to her community was expressed by her leadership in various organizations. She served as chair of the Greater Indiana Corporation and a member of the Indiana County Economic Development Committee and the Indiana County Industrial Development Authority. Mrs. Donnelly was on the executive board and numerous committees of the Downtown Indiana Merchants Association as well as the Main Street Program.

She initiated the Christmas Angel program in 1960 and was the founder and president of the Indiana County Humane Society, aiding in the establishment of the Indiana County Animal Shelter.

Among the many awards she received included the Indiana Civic Leader of the Year and the Zonta Woman of the Year award in 1985.

She was the recipient of the Friends of the Library Award and the Aging Services Hall of Fame Award in 1991

Sports - Bernice Gera

Bernice Shiner Gera (June 15, 1931 – September 23, 1992) was the first female umpire in professional

baseball. She retired after one game citing the resentment of other umpires.

Born in Ernest, Pennsylvania and one of five children, Gera loved baseball as a child and grew up

playing as an outfielder and umpiring games. She never considered a career in baseball until she was

already in her mid-thirties, married, living in Jackson Heights, NY, and working as a secretary.

According to a Time article, the idea to become an umpire just suddenly hit her one night and saw her work umpiring games in slums as "a form of social welfare," as having a woman on the field would lead to "less trouble" and encourage other women to attend the games. Gera sold her husband, a free-lance photographer, on the idea and enrolled in the Florida Baseball School in 1967.

As umpiring had been a strictly male profession up to that point, the school had no facilities for Gera, and she spent much of the six-week program living in a nearby motel. By several reports, she excelled in her training, yet Gera was rejected by the National Association of Baseball Leagues (NABL), which claimed that she did not meet the physical requirements of the job. Ed Doherty, a baseball executive, claimed that umpires needed to be 21–35 years old, a minimum of 5 foot 10 inches tall, and weigh 170 pounds while Gera was only 5 foot 2, 38 years old, and 126 pounds. Gera even had prior experience umpiring for the National Baseball Congress in Bridgeton, NJ as well as in "recreational programs in the slums," but this was not enough to get her a job. Unable to gain employment as a female umpire, on March 19, 1969, Gera filed a sex discrimination case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act with the New York State Human Rights Commission. In her complaint, she accused both the New York Professional Baseball League and its president, Vincent McNamara, of not employing her as an umpire due to her sex. In his rejection of Gera's application, McNamara cited single-gender dressing rooms and foul language on the field as reasons why females should not umpire games.

Undeterred, Gera fought the NABL in court for five years. Representative Mario Biaggi (D., N.Y.), represented Gera legally in court and, using Gera's story as inspiration, even introduced an equal rights Constitutional amendment to the House during his time in Congres. On January 13, 1972, Gera finally won a discrimination suit against the NABL, winning approval in The Court of Appeals in a 5-to-2 decision. Though she was not a member of women's liberation group, she was a "stanch adherent of work equality" and viewed this as a huge victory. She then received a contract to work in the New York–Penn League on April 13, opening the door for her to become the first female umpire in professional baseball. On June 23, 1972, she gained national attention when she umpired the first game of a Class A minor league doubleheader between the Geneva Senators and Auburn Twins. The game was a near sellout with 2,000 people attending the game at Shuron Park in Geneva, N.Y. In the fourth inning, Gera ruled Auburn base-runner Terry Ford safe at second on a double play, then reversed her call. Auburn manager Nolan Campbell disputed the decision and said that Gera's first mistake was putting on an umpire's uniform and her second was blowing the call. Campbell was ejected from the game, but Gera still decided to resign between games, which was later said to be planned, saying she became disenchanted with umpiring when the other umpires refused to cooperate with her on the field. She was scheduled to be the home plate umpire for the second game.

Gera cites the "cool resentment" of both the other umpires and the baseball establishment as a

motivation for her decision to resign, not her dispute with Auburn manager Nolan Campbell. This,

combined with both verbal, written and physical "threats" "disgusted" her and contributed to her

disillusionment with baseball culture. Eight men, for example, allegedly shattered the light outside

Gera's motel room and cursed at her the night before she umpired her first game, perceiving her as

an "attack on baseball's male fraternity. Though she resigned not long after becoming an umpire,

Gera saw this as a larger, symbolic victory for women participating in sports historically perceived

as "for men only." "Bernice would always say, 'I could beat them in the courts, but I can't beat them

on the field,'" Steve Gera, her husband, quoted his wife as saying. Although she stopped umpiring,

Bernice Gera stayed in the game. She went to work for the New York Mets in the team's community relations and promotions from 1974 to 1979 before retiring to Florida.

Bernice died of kidney cancer in 1992 in Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Florida at 61 years old.

Timeline

1967: Gera sold her husband, a free-lance photographer, on the idea and enrolled in the Florida Baseball School in 1967

1969: Unable to gain employment as a female umpire, on March 19, 1969, Gera filed a sex discrimination case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act with the New York State Human Rights Commission.

1972: On January 13, 1972, Gera finally won a discrimination suit against the NABL, winning approval in The Court of Appeals in a 5-to-2 decision.

1972: On June 23, 1972, she gained national attention when she umpired the first game of a Class A minor league doubleheader between the Geneva Senators and Auburn Twins.

1992: Bernice died of kidney cancer in 1992 in Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Florida at 61 years old.

Human Rights- Marilyn McCusker

Marilyn McCusker championed women’s rights, fair wages & employment in a male

dominated field. Her death in 1979 sent shock waves through the Pennsylvania coal #mining community. #WomensHistoryMonth 👉 https://phmc.info/2hepM4v

Marilyn McCusker’s items – a hardhat and lamp with battery pack, paper union card, lunch pail and leather mining belt – appear in the new exhibit, Pennsylvania Icons, at The State Museum. CAP Curator Carol Buck selected the artifacts as this week’s Pennsylvania Treasure.

On Oct. 2, 1979, Marilyn McCusker arrived at her job at the Rushton Mine along with her gear – a hardhat with lamp and battery pack, paper union card, lunch pail and leather mining belt. Later that day, her tragic death would make national history, sending shockwaves through the Pennsylvania coal mining community.

The series of events that would eventually lead to McCusker’s death began in 1974, when she, then Marilyn Williams, applied for a position at the Rushton Mining Co. in Clearfield County, Pa. For years, McCusker had worked steadily, holding down jobs as a bartender and in a nursing home. She applied for a job with Rushton Mining in hopes of improving her family’s standard of living. Rushton Mining denied McCusker and other women employment based on their gender, setting off a legal battle. In 1977 a court awarded the women jobs working in the mine and $30,000 in back pay.

Mining is a physically challenging and dangerous job for men and women alike. The days are long, temperatures can be bone chilling and heavy coal dust fills the air, coating a worker’s skin and lungs. But the $90-a-day pay was far more than McCusker had earned at her previous jobs. The income was important to the then – unmarried Marilyn Williams, who was raising a teenage son. She looked forward to building her own home and ultimately quitting the mine to start a business with her soon-to-be husband, Alan McCusker.

At about 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 2, 1979, five years after Marilyn McCusker first applied for a job with Rushton Mining, she became the first woman in the United States to die in a deep-mine accident. She was performing the dangerous job of roof bolter helper when a section of the mine roof collapsed. Tons of rock and debris fell on McCusker, suffocating her.

McCusker was a champion for women’s rights, fair wages and employment in a typically male dominated field. Her struggle against discrimination continued even after she died, when her husband applied for death benefits. Pennsylvania laws prohibited a man from collecting benefits after his wife’s death “unless he is incapable of self-support.” Alan McCusker vowed he would take this fight all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The mining company agreed to pay him and his son a total of $227 a week, with an additional life insurance payment of $12,000 to each of them. In 1991 the famed Rushton Mine closed its doors permanently and 250 people lost their jobs.

Marilyn McCusker’s items appear in the new exhibit, Pennsylvania Icons. CAP Curator Carol Buck selected the artifacts as this week’s Pennsylvania Treasure.

Environment - Peggy Clark

Peggy and her family lived on a farm in Indiana County and lost their water due to deep mining. At that time there were some laws in place to protect landowners but nothing to protect those who lost their water or who built post 1966 and had land subsidence occur.

Peggy organized the Citizens Against Water Loss From Mining (CAWLM) in the 70’s to get a state law passed to protect against water loss due to deep mining. In the 1980’s DEP set up a process to try and resolve the problems with deep mining , water loss, and subsidence. This eventually resulted in the passage of act 54.

Although Act 54 was not as far reaching as Peggy wanted to achieve it did make a huge difference to residents of rural PA. CAWLM and the League of Women Voters (LWV) were two of the groups involved in this process. Peggy was always calm, organized and well researched and testified 100’s of times for the protection of water resources. Peggy’s work was local activism at it’s best. She had a life long interest in environmental issues especially those related to energy extraction. Peggy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the late 80’s and fought cancer in addition to continuing to fight to protect our water resources. She is a grassroots activist who made a difference not only in the county but throughout the state. She is a remarkable person who was able to continue to fight over two decades for important environmental issues.

Peggy Clark joined the LWV in September of 1983 and was a board member and active member until 2004. She continued on the environmental committee to work on other environmental issues until 2008.

The "Peggy Clark Grassroots Environmental Activist Award” was created and awarded each year by the Indiana PA League of Women Voters.

Arts - Abby Morris

Abigail “Abby” Morris was born in January 10,1925. As a youngster, Abby was privileged to study all aspects of dance and the arts. At the age of 4, she began studying piano with Clara Bollinger Stouffer, a noted composer of piano literature. Abby’s 15 minute of fame in 1930 at age 5 when she was entered into statewide contest in Baltimore. She came away with all three prizes offered: most talented child, most beautiful and healthiest. The event was featured in the Pathe News in movie theaters across the country.

At age 9, Abby played a piano composition called “Majesty of The Deep,” which won her a piano scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

From then on, Abby’s entire life was immersed in arts. In high school, she was introduced to Shakespeare. She fell in love with his sonnets, many which she committed to memory. Her favorite writers were Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Noel Coward. She adored Broadway musical theater, ballet, and symphony orchestras.

She was a graduate of York Junior College and the Johns Hopkins School of Radiography.

Upon completion, she moved to New York City and continued studying music and dance and attended chemistry, literature and music classes at Brooklyn College and Columbia University. She became co-director of The Ford Foundation’s “Drama for Discussion.”

Abby loved Indiana and will long be remembered by the hundreds of citizens who participated in her many musical reviews that raised money for various local community organizations. She moved in 1964 to Indiana and, in 1965 at the Indiana County fairgrounds presented her first production for the Indiana Tourist Bureau.

Following a performance of her 1990 production, “Showcase Indiana,” Mayor J.D. Varner took the stage and read a proclamation naming April 27th 1990 “Abby Morris Day” in Indiana.

One of her proudest accomplishments locally was the co-founding of "The Indiana Players.”

Public Health: Dr. Rachel Levine:

Dr. Levine is currently the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and

Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine.

Dr. Levine is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and the Academy for Eating Disorders. She is also the President of ASTHO, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Dr. Levine joined the Wolf administration in January 2015 as the Physician General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and served from 2015-2017. She was named Acting Secretary of Health in July 2017 and confirmed as Secretary of Health in March 2018.

Her previous posts included: Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

In addition to her recent posts Dr. Levine is also an accomplished regional and international speaker, and author on the opioid crisis, medical marijuana, adolescent medicine, eating disorders, and LGBT medicine.

Dr. Levine graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine. She completed her training in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

2019 Inductees:

Education - Nellie Bly
- Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (May 5, 1864– January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She was a pioneer in her field, and launched a new kind of investigative journalism. Bly was also a writer, inventor, and industrialist. Early in her life she lived in Pittsburgh and briefly attended the Indiana Normal School (now IUP).

Human Rights- John Brophy
- Brophy was born in Lancashire, England to a family of miners. His family emigrated to the United States when he was nine years old and found work in the central Pennsylvania coal mines. Brophy began working in the mines at age eleven; by the age of fourteen, he had joined the UMWA. He rose within the union to become president of District 2 of the UMWA. Brophy ran against John L. Lewis for President of the UMWA in 1926 calling for nationalization of the coal industry, a 30 hour work week at the same pay as a 40 hour week and the establishment of a third national progressive political party. He lost the union election to Lewis, but most historians feel it was rigged and that Brophy probably would have won the election if the vote had been held democratically. Lewis controlled the counting of the ballots. Brophy advocated for the human rights of the miners, their families and communities. He also created a very innovative community-based education program called “Labor Chautauqua’s” that sought to educate miners and their families about democracy and the role of government.

Environment - East Run Hellbenders Society, Inc.
- In 2012, residents of Grant Township in northeastern Indiana County were informed that a Marcellus shale company, Pennsylvania General Energy, from Warren, PA, wanted to install a Class IID injection well where it would literally shoot the wastewater from Marcellus shale gas wells into the ground near their homes. Since all the residents of the township use well water, this was a major concern. PGE’s own state record for environmental violations with the Department of Environmental Protection outlined the very real possibility that the wastewater would leach in the ground and eventually pollute their water. In response, Grant Township residents created a group that would work to stop this threat and took on the hellbender as a symbol representing their cause. Major newspapers have written stories about the Hellbenders including the Rolling Stone Magazine. Currently, oral arguments scheduled for Friday, October 4, 2019, Pittsburgh will be heard on whether this community has the right to protect itself from corporate harms like injection wells.

Arts - Jim Rogers
- Jim was a self employed photographer for over 25 years. He was employed by the Communications Media Department of IUP as a faculty advisor for WIUP-FM and taught classes in radio and photography. Volunteering at WIUP-FM for over 30 years, he primarily aired Saturday and Sunday morning radio programs which highlighted singer-song writers, folk music and bluegrass. As Special Programs Director/Community Volunteer Coordinator, he was producer/host of WIUP-FM’s Modern Troubadours (29 years), FolkTime! (34 years) and The Bluegrass Ramble (9 years). He was also director of FolkTime! Productions, Indiana Pa

Sports - IUP Woman's Basketball
- IUP women's basketball followed up its wildly successful 2017-18 season with another historic year. The Crimson Hawks won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division regular season title, the PSAC tournament championship, and another Atlantic Region crown to advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the second consecutive season. IUP head coach Tom McConnell was named PSAC West Coach of the Year, with seniors Carolyn Appleby, Lauren Wolosik and Brittany Robinson each earning all-league honors. Appleby also earned All-Atlantic Region and All-American accolades.

2018 Inductees:

Jim Nance - Sports
- Jim was the first two-time African American Pennsylvania high school state heavyweight wrestling champion, a star football running back at Syracuse University, and the first two-time NCAA heavyweight national champion. Later, he was a star running back for the Boston Patriots (now the New England Patriots)

Andy Warhol - Arts
- Andy was an American artist and filmmaker who kicked off the popular and iconic pop art style that we know today. The original purpose of his artwork is said to have been a commentary on commercial culture in America. Many of his artworks are displayed in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Edward Abbey - The Environment
- Born in Indiana, Pa., Edward was an author who frequently wrote of environmental issues. He advocated strongly for environmental preservation specifically in Western America. He often wrote about his love for nature. His novel The Monkey Wrench Gang inspired a change in some environmental activism, the advocacy group EarthFirst! being a prime example of the novel’s inspiration.

Ida Tarbell - Education
- Ida was a teacher, writer, and investigative journalist, the role she is most known for. She was one of the leading muckrakers during the Progressive Era, exposing many of the issues in the rising oil industry. Her writing is noted to have been easy to digest for any type of reader.

Chris Catalfamo - Human Rights
- Chris, an Indiana resident and former St. Vincent's College history professor, was said to be the "catalyst" for the transformation of the former Second Baptist Church into the Blairsville Underground Railroad History Center. The history center is a walking and self-driving tour through Indiana County, educating the public on Blairsville's effort to help African Americans flee enslavement through underground railroads.

2017 Inductees:

Jeff Kelly - Arts and Music
- Jeff was a renowned local musician that pursued a career across many musical genres. Originally a rock-n-roll player, he eventually switched to performing solo folk music. After experiencing Chicago's rich blue's traditions, he was inspired to become a self-taught historian and interpreter of blues in the tradition of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters among other classic performers. Jeff incorporated their style into his shows and received many local and regional awards for the quality of his work.

Rachel Carson - The Environment
- Rachel was a marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. Silent Spring described the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment. The book received other accolades, including an edition with an introduction written by Al Gore and being designated a National Historical Landmark by the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Irwin Marcus - Education
- Dr. Irwin Marcus Emeritus Professor of History at IUP. He taught at the university for over 35 years, developed the first course of “working class history” in the state, served on numerous thesis and doctoral committees, organized conferences that received national attention and was a mentor to thousands of students throughout the years.

Clara Roberts- Human Rights
- Clara was an up and coming human rights advocate who worked on social justice causes, organizing events for gender equality and reproductive justice. She was also involved in political campaigns for candidates that supported progressive causes. At the time of her tragic and untimely death at age 24, she was preparing to attend New York University’s School of Law to pursue a degree in law that promoted social justice.