Starr-Gennett Foundation Walk Of Fame Inductees

In September 2007, the Starr-Gennett Foundation began to honor the most important Gennett artists on a Walk of Fame near the site of Gennett's Richmond, Indiana, recording studio.

The Gennett Walk of Fame is located along South 1st Street in Richmond at the site of the Starr Piano Company and embedded in the Whitewater Gorge Trail, which connects to the longer Cardinal Greenway Trail. Both trails are part of the American Discovery Trail, the only coast-to-coast, non-motorized recreational trail.

The Foundation convened its National Advisory Board in January, 2006, to choose the first 10 inductees. The inductees are selected from: classic jazz, old-time country, blues, gospel (African-American and Southern), American popular song, ethnic, historic/spoken, and classical, giving preference to the first five categories.

The consensus selection for the first inductee in the Gennett Walk of Fame was Louis Armstrong.

The first ten inductees were:

• Louis Armstrong

• Bix Beiderbecke

• Jelly Roll Morton

• Hoagy Carmichael

• Gene Autry

• Vernon Dalhart

• Big Bill Broonzy

• Georgia Tom

• King Oliver

• Lawrence Welk

A second set of ten nominees was inducted in 2008:

• Homer Rodeheaver

• Fats Waller

• Duke Ellington

• Uncle Dave Macon

• Coleman Hawkins

• Charley Patton

• Sidney Bechet

• Blind Lemon Jefferson

• Fletcher Henderson

• Guy Lombardo

2009 Inductees:

• Artie Shaw

• Wendell Hall

• Bradley Kincaid

• Ernest Stoneman and Hattie Frost Stoneman

• New Orleans Rhythm Kings

2010 Inductees:

• Alberta Hunter

• Lonnie Johnson

• Pace Jubilee Singers

2011 Inductees:

• Roosevelt Sykes

• Bailey's Lucky Seven

2012 Inductees:

• Scrapper Blackwell

• Jelly Roll Morton

2013 Inductee:

• William Jennings Bryan

2014 Inductee:

• Doc Roberts & Asa Martin

2016 Inductee:

• Jimmy Durante