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Automotive Hall of Fame

award

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ787908 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Automotive Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame honoring influential figures in the history of the automotive industry. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, US. The Hall of Fame is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area.

History

The Automotive Hall of Fame was founded on October 18, 1939, in New York City by a group called the "Automobile Old Timers." Its original mission was to perpetuate the memories of early automotive pioneers and to honor people from all parts of the auto industry worldwide. For its first three decades, The Automotive Hall of Fame had four name changes. Its second iteration, "Automotive Old Timers," was adopted in 1957 to recognize a broader base, including automotive-related industries. In 1971, it became "The Automotive Organization Team." Finally, it became known as "The Automotive Hall of Fame," a name that led to further growth.

In 1946, the Hall participated in the "National Golden Jubilee" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the automobile's invention and honor the industry's creators. The Jubilee committee president, William S. Knudsen, stated the selection to the Hall of Fame included "Ten pioneers whose engineering and administrative genius made possible the present day." The selection was done in cooperation with the Automobile Manufacturers Association. The ten were: Edgar Apperson, William Crapo Durant, J. Frank Duryea, Henry Ford, George M. Holley, Charles B. King, Charles W. Nash, Barney Oldfield, Ransom E. Olds, and Alfred P. Sloan Jr. were selected.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Automotive Hall of Fame” as award. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1939, 1957, 1971, 1946—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1939-10-18. The account is most persuasive where Automotive, Hall and Fame can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as award. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q787908. VIAF identifies the subject as 153764009. The Library of Congress control number is n95004548. Authority coordinates are 42.303, -83.238. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939, 1957, 1971 and 1946.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Automotive Hall of Fame”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Automotive Hall of Fame primary sources, Automotive Hall of Fame archive and Automotive research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Automotive Hall of Fame”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Automotive Hall of Fame” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.