The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of the Bronx Community College and originally constructed in 1900 as a part of the University Heights campus of New York University. NYU purchased the University Heights campus in 1894, but due to financial crises in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then President of NYU, James McNaughton Hester, negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York in 1973. Inspired by the Ruhmeshalle (Hall of Fame) located in Munich, Germany, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans was the first hall of fame to be established in the United States and was created to honor great men and women who have had a significant impact on the nation's history. In The Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University, Theodore Morello writes, "The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is a symbol of our national greatness as exemplified by its noted men and women, whose dedicated lives reflect the highest ideals of American culture in the arts, sciences, scholarship, and government."

American philanthropist Helen Miller Gould Shepard donated both the library building and the Hall of Fame structure. Designed by architect Stanford White (who also designed the library), the structure was formally dedicated on May 30, 1901. The structure is a half-circle stone colonnade positioned around the university library and houses 98 bronze portrait busts, each designed by distinguished American sculptors.

To be eligible for nomination into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, a person had to have been a native-born or naturalized citizen of the United States, deceased for 25 years (since 1922; from 1900 through 1920, a nominee had to be dead only 10 years) and must have made a major contribution to the economic, political, or cultural life of the nation.

Henry Mitchell MacCracken, Chancellor of NYU from 1891-1910 and originator of the Hall of Fame, established a board of electors that undertook the responsibility of nominating and ultimately selecting individuals for enshrinement. This board of electors was comprised of men and women who had achieved a degree of renown, including some of the most well-known and respected writers, historians, and educators of their day as well as members of Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Presidents of the United States. Nominees were elected by a simple majority vote, except from 1925 through 1940, when a 3/5 majority was required, and in 1976 when a point system replaced the majority vote.

Following the sale of the University Heights campus to CUNY, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans lost funding and support. The Hall of Fame does remains active and open to the public for self-guided tours daily between the hours of 10:00am and 5:00pm and guided tours by appointment only.