December 20, 2024 - SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and the California Museum on Thursday inducted the 18th class of the California Hall of Fame in a virtual ceremony. This all-women posthumous class consists of trailblazers in athletics, civil rights, culinary arts, entertainment, and more. They join over 100 inspirational Californians previously inducted for embodying the state’s innovative spirit.
California Hall of Fame 18th class inductees
Julia Child: Cook, author, television personality
Ina Donna Coolbrith: California’s first poet laureate
Vicki Manalo Draves: Olympic gold medalist
Mitsuye Endo: Civil rights activist
Dian Fossey: Primatologist, gorilla conservationist
Alice Piper: Civil rights hero
Tina Turner: Singer, performer
Photo credits: top row, left to right: Alamy stock photo; the Draves Family; National Archives and Records Administration; bottom row: unknown photographer; Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University; Bertelsmann Music Group; Oakland History Center, Oakland Public Library.
Read the full announcement here.
Launched in 2006, the California Hall of Fame honors history-making Californians whose embodiment of California’s spirit of innovation changed the state, the nation, and the world. Inductees are selected annually by the Governor and First Partner for achievements in arts, business and labor, entertainment, food and wine, literature, music, public service, science, and sports.
Source: Office of the Governor
Related: Governor Newsom, First Partner Siebel Newsom, and the California Museum announce the 18th Class of the California Hall of Fame – Seven Woman Including Julia Child, Tina Turner and Dianne Fossey