Stone memorializing John Hay
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- Legacies Classification
- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
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- Background and Context
- Physical Description
- Memorial Inscription
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- Historical Period
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- Location: Institution, City, State
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Memorial Object
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Plaque/Marker
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Hay, John
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Stone memorializing John Hay
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The “Walk of Fame” was created in 1929 by then-president Hamilton Holt to honor significant historical figures. The memorial is located in the center of campus around Mills Lawn.
John Hay (1838-1905) was a secretary, writer, diplomat, journalist, and 37th U.S. Secretary of State. Hay's family had long opposed slavery. His grandfather moved the family from Kentucky to Illinois, specifically to be away from slavery. Later, his father, Charles, opposed the movement of slave-owning Kentuckians to the family home in Indiana.
Hay went to Brown University where he earned a law degree and began his long government career. Hay was introduced to President Lincoln by John G. Nicolay in 1861. Hay then became Lincoln's assistant private secretary. Between 1861 and 1865 Hay took on heavy secretary duties, briefly served in the Union army, and was a presidential emissary; all while advocating for the emancipation of slaves. He was on the same page regarding emancipation as Lincoln, wanting it to be done in ways that would not hurt the Union politically, and, also like Lincoln, he did not see African Americans as equal to White Americans.
After Lincoln’s death, Hay cowrote a 10-volume biography of Lincoln with Nicolay, before working as a journalist for the New York Tribune. He also had a long and illustrious diplomatic career, serving as Assistant Secretary of State under Presidents B. Hayes and James A. Garfield and Secretary of State under President McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Hay’s stone was acquired from the house he was born at in Salem, Indiana, being placed January 1934.
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Square stone block with an inscription.
12" x 11"
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John Hay
Salem Ind.
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Hanna, A.J.
Holt, Hamilton
Huffer, William
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January 1934
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Rollins College
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Taliaferro, John. All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt. Simon & Schuster, 2013
Position: 10842 (8 views)