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[[images - six black & white photographs of people attending the Black Athletes Hall of Fame Banquet]]

Willie Mays brought tears to the eyes of most of those in attendance when he said," We are finally getting it together. This honor by the Black Athletes Hall of Fame will be my most cherished award, even if I am lucky enough to make the Baseball Hall of Fame, after the next five years.

Three women are included. They are all-winning tennis champion Althea Gibson; Alice Coachman, the first Black woman winner of an Olympic gold medal; and the Black Pearl of the 1960 Rome Olympiad, Wilma Rudolph. Ms. Rudolph racked up a staggering total of votes over the country and has been elected the first woman to serve on the Black Athletes Hall of Fame Board of Directors. She is also on the Advisory Board of Ms. Magazine.

Hank Aaron, the slugging home run hitter of the Atlanta Braves, won the Bill Cosby award by garnering the most votes during the recent ballot casting by sports writers over the U.S.A. Aaron said, "I am glad that I have been elected to the Black Athletes Hall of Fame. I am in some kind of good company with all of the other super-athletes who have also been honored."

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