Celebrate Wilmington! and the 
Walk of Fame

     Mount Rushmore has its presidents, Hollywood has a star-studded sidewalk and, since 1997, Wilmington has a Walk of Fame. Located behind The Cotton Exchange shopping center in historic downtown Wilmington, the Walk of Fame Plaza was created through the efforts of Celebrate Wilmington!, which is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The main goal is to celebrate Wilmington's arts community and recognize those who have enriched the Cape Fear area.

Visitors to this small plaza on Nutt Street will find a graceful arbor with flowering vines and tubs of seasonal plants at the entrance. Tall, distinctive banners bearing the Celebrate Wilmington! emblem flap overhead in a breeze from the Cape Fear River waterfront nearby. Bronze benches provide a comfortable place to rest and view the eight-pointed stars that line the walkway, bearing the names of Walk of Fame honorees.

To be chosen for this honor, candidates must satisfy a specific criteria. Inductees are those people who have lived, worked and/or enriched the Wilmington/Cape Fear region and have attained national or international recognition in one of the following fields — the arts, business, education, literature, broadcasting/television/film, journalism, sports, science, medicine, the military, politics or government.

Current Walk of Fame honorees (in order and with year of induction) are:

1997 - Roman Gabriel A Wilmington native, Roman Gabriel played All-State football, baseball and basketball while at New Hanover High School and starred as a football quarterback at North Carolina State. He went on to a career in professional football as an NFL quarterback, playing for the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

1997 - Minnie Evans A native of the Cape Fear region, Minnie Evans was a visionary artist who, without prior training, began to paint prolifically in middle age. Using whatever materials she could find, she painted vibrant and colorful pictures depicting the dreams and vision she experienced all of her life. A collection of her work hangs on permanent display in the Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum. 

1998 - Hugh Morton The legacy that Hugh Morton leaves behind is as a preservationist, naturalist and photographer. He contributed much time and effort into preserving North Carolina history through his work on the Save The Battleship and Cape Hattaras Lighthouse projects. Morton is also an internationally recognized photographer whose work appeared in several well-known magazines, including Time and National Geographic. 

1998 - Henry Bacon Though born in Illinois, Henry Bacon spent most of his life in Wilmington, designing the Confederate Memorial at Third and Market Streets and the estates of local families. He is most noted for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for which he won international recognition and the highest honors of the American Institute of Architects. Bacon is buried in the Oakdale Cemetery, 520 N. 15th Street, Wilmington. 

1999 - Frank Capra, Jr. Frank Capra, Jr. has been instrumental in the development of Wilmington's film industry. Internationally recognized as a filmmaker, Capra returned to Wilmington in 1996 to become president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios. His earlier visit in 1983 resulted in the filming of Dino DeLaurentiis' movie, Firestarter, on location at Orton Plantation. Since his return, Capra has been tireless in his efforts to bring film production to the Cape Fear region and strengthen communication between the industry and the community. Capra participates in Wilmington's theater arts and teaches classes in the Film Studies Program at UNC-Wilmington. 

1999 - Caterina Jarboro Born Katherine Yarborough in Wilmington, Caterina attended school here until, at age 13, she journeyed to New York to study music. During her illustrious career, she achieved international fame as a soprano and paved the way for other talented African-Americans in American opera. Caterina performed in many of the world's great opera houses, including Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Madrid, Moscow and the United States. She also thrilled Wilmington audiences on two occasions by performing at the Academy of Music (Thalian Hall) and the Williston High School auditorium. 

2000 - Althea Gibson Breaking through racial barriers throughout her career, tennis legend Althea Gibson achieved several "firsts" as an African-American athlete, especially a black female athlete, and won nearly 100 professional titles. In 1958, after retiring from professional tennis competition, she made golf history as the first African-American to earn an LPGA card. Althea's connection to Wilmington dates back to her move to the city as a young girl to train with Dr. Hubert Eaton, who discovered and mentored her. She trained on Dr. Eaton's regulation-size tennis court in downtown Wilmington, living with his family and attending Williston High School. 

2000 - Robert C. Ruark, Jr. Robert Ruark, born and raised in Wilmington, graduated from New Hanover High School. He later earned fame and recognition as a journalist and, eventually, as a bestselling novelist. His books include Something of Value, Poor No More, Uhuru and The Honey Badger.

2001 - David Brinkley A Wilmington native for the first twenty-one years of his life, veteran journalist and news commentator David Brinkley got his start in print news with the Wilmington Morning Star. He went on to work for the United Press and NBC radio in the 1940s before turning to an emerging new medium called television. Brinkley, one of the first journalists on television, is credited as a pioneer in the field of broadcast news. 

2001 - Charlie Daniels Hit country music singer/songwriter and Grammy winner Charlie Daniels has strong roots in the Cape Fear region. Born in Wilmington in 1936, Daniels grew up on Carolina Beach Road and still has family in the area. He received an honorary degree from UNC-Wilmington in 1996. Two of Daniels' most recognized songs include "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "The South's Gonna Do It Again." 

2002 - Claude Howell Believing that the quality of Wilmington's light was unlike that of any other place, Claude Howell explored the effect light has upon the objects and shapes of coastal living. He helped found the art department at Wilmington College, later the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and left many serigraphs to St. John's Museum of Art. His collection is now housed in the Louise Wells Cameron Museum of Art.

2003 - Isaac ("Ike") Bates Grainger Banking and golf made good partners for a man who excelled at both. An executive of Murchison National Bank of Wilmington, North Carolina Bank & Trust Co. of Greensboro, Grainger joined Chemical Bank of NYC (now Chase Manhattan), where he was president from 1956-60, when he reached mandatory retirement age. At the same time he was rising through the ranks of the banking world, Grainger served as chairman of the joint rules committee of the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. He was president of the USGA from 1954 to 1955 and received the USGA's Bob Jones Award for distinguished sportsmanship in golf in 1988. Living to be 104, Grainger was one of the oldest veterans in New Hanover County and the oldest member of the Cape Fear Golf Club, which hosts an annual golf tournament, the Isaac B. Grainger International Match Play Championship, in his honor. 

2004 - Sonny Jurgensen Born in Wilmington, Sonny Jurgensen attended New Hanover H.S. and went on to a brilliant college football career at Duke University. Sonny began his NFL career playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and later became a record-setting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. In 1983, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

2005 - Don Payne Graduating from New Hanover High School in 1982, Don Payne went on to garner three Emmy awards as a writer for the hit Fox animated series, The Simpsons. Cape Fear Museum currently has a number of Payne's items of Simpson's memorabilia on display. 

2006 - Meadowlark Lemon Lemon's antics as the leader of the Harlem Globetrotters throughout the '70s and '80s, at the height of the group's popularity, made him beloved by basketball fans the world over. He continues working as a goodwill ambassador through his organization, Camp Meadowlark.

2007- Jim Goodnight The CEO of business intelligence powerhouse SAS, Goodnight received his star in September of 2007. Known for its outstanding employee benefits and as a leader in analytical software and service, SAS has grown from humble beginnings in 1976 to become an internationally recognized leader in business software solutions. Goodnight expressed pride at being included in a group of so many whose careers began in the Cape Fear region.