Years of History
About Us
Know About Our Hall of Fame & Our History
The year was 1969, a group of archers were setting around the dinner table at a Professional Archers Association tournament in Michigan. The subject came up about different sports who had halls of fames and one of the tournament officials said," Wouldn't it be something if someday Archery could have a Hall of Fame like other sports have. The seed was sown and that was how it all began. At that time is was really just a dream...
...but in 1971 The Archery Hall of Fame, Inc., became a reality when the then Archery Lane Operators Association President, Joe Rusinek and Professional Archers Association President Dave Staples put their heads together and presented the idea for a Hall to the American Archery Council (AAC). "The thing that struck me when Joe Rusinek and I proposed the idea' said then Hall President Dave Staples, "was that this group of people [within the AAC] had the vision and the sense of history to offer total commitment to an organization that would promulgate every facet of the sport." "We wanted the Hall to be a way of recognizing those people who had moved the sport forward via their contributions, to he a repository of the memorabilia that changed the sport, and most importantly to be an educational resource for future archers. The early pioneers who got behind Joe Rusinek and supported the formation of the Hall via a sort of "internal committee" included industry standouts like Bob Kelly, Jim Dougherty, Jim Easton, Earl Hoyt, and George Helwig of the National Archery Association (NAA), Pat Wingfield of the National Field Archery Association (NFAA), and Dick Lattimer (Bear Archery and later of the AMO ). In 1972 the Hall became a part of the AAC. That same year, at Fred Bear's invitation, the Hall held its first induction ceremony at the PAA Nationals in Grayling, Michigan, and in '76 the Hall incorporated as an independent entity. The Hall would stand alone to protect the integrity of those people who were nominated and inducted.
A Vision for Preserving History
In the early '70s Joe Rusinek took the lead in creating a vision for the Hall's operation. He served as executive director, and his wife, Jane, assisted him. (The Hall later recognized Joe's leadership with the prestigious Karl E. Palmatier Award of Merit.) Joe, with the able help of Dave Staples and Don Clark, both of whom served as executive directors, Dave basically through the '70s and '80s, and Don from the late '80s until 2004, along with the Hall's Board of Directors, blazed a trail to properly recognize archery's steadfast contributors, while at the same time preserving priceless archery history.
A fair procedure for nominating and voting in worthy members was established and with the passing of Joe Rusinek in 1995, Dave Staples, took the helm. "The initial thought process was to induct outstanding members of the archery community in the categories of bowhunter, coach, competitor, contributor to the sport, educator, and influence on the sport.
That's basically what the Hall's electorate continues to do today. One other category was added, that of Lifetime achievement. The only person to be inducted in that category was Dave Staples after his passing in 2008.
Each year official letters of nomination, accompanied by complete biographies and any other supplemental materials telling the nominee's story, are sent to the Hall's office by individual's, wishing to see someone inducted into the hall. and it's up to the Hall's electorate to closely consider these nominations. The Archery Hall of Fame now has approximately 65 electors drawn from the ranks of living inductees, board members, representatives of each national archery organization, representatives of all supporting organizations, and members of the archery/bowhunting media.
Soon after Dave Staples took on the Hall's leadership role in the mid 90's , he looked for fresh ideas from Executive Director Don Clark and fellow board member, George Helwig. With renewed vigor the Hall added Dick Lattimer as a member of the board, along with Sherwood Schoch, Maryanne Schumm, and Glenn St. Charles. Dick Lattimer brought a a tremendous sense of history, Maryanne Schumm brought incredible intercollegiate archery and coaching experience, and Glenn St. Charles added the bowhunting perspective.
Ready for the Challenge Ahead
Without a doubt the Archery Hall of Fame has renewed energy and is working hard to set the stage for future efforts to preserve archery history. In the past few years with the passing of some of our board members, new names appear on the board. Rick McKinney, Joe St.Charles, and Billy Staples join M.R. James, Ann Clark, Steve Kaufman, Jane Johnson, Marilyn Bentz and Executive Director, Diane Miller.
The big thing is the Hall has found a permanent home with the Bass Pro Shops in Springfield Missouri. and they will house the Hall of Fames memorabilia that will be displayed in our museum for future generations to see. The Hall is doing everything in its power to make sure that it has the archival materials - both artifacts and printed materials - that will allow scholars to intimately know the people and happenings of the archery community/industry. The Hall already possesses a truly impressive collection of materials, including the works and bows of Dr. G.M. Hickman (including a bona fide Geronimo bow), as well as memorabilia from Karl Palmatier, Babe and Henry Bitzenburger, Jean Lee Lombardo, Myrtle "Mimi" Miller, M.R. James and Ann and the late Earl Hoyt, as well as Ann Clark, Jim Dougherty, Glenn St,Charles, Ishi and many other who have been inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame.
It's important to recognize the people who made outstanding contributions. Today a lot of people come into the sport without knowing the history, without knowing about the people who came before them!' But the Hall definitely wants to put an end to that. The Archery Hall of Fame is keeping its date with history.
Some of the above information is taken from an article written by Jeff Waring, Editor, Bowhuinter Magazine - 2002
