Volleyball Hall of Fame
444 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
George Mulry, Executive Director
Tel: 413.536.0926
www.volleyhall.org/
The Volleyball Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit institution dedicated to honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to this international sport and to fostering the appreciation of the historical development of the game by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience.
The Volleyball Hall of Fame, at 444 Dwight St. in Holyoke opened to the public on June 6, 1987. A two-day volleyball tournament was hosted by the Volleyball Hall of Fame to celebrate the grand opening. The Exhibit Hall now features a full-size replica half-court, an award area, historic displays, sport timeline, and a gift shop.
William G. Morgan, inventor of volleyball at the Holyoke YMCA in 1895, was honored posthumously as first inductee of Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1985. Morgan was physical director of the Holyoke YMCA in 1895 when he came up with the concept and rules for volleyball — a sport he envisioned as a less-physically taxing sport than basketball, one that middle-aged men could play during their lunch hour.
A total of 106 men and women from 20 countries around the world have since been inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame. On October 20th of this year, we will celebrate our 112th inductee. The international appeal of the sport partly explains a shift in the pool of inductees over the past decade. The lists of inductees were mostly Americans until about 1998. Since then, inductees have come from around the world and contribute to the honoring of the sport and its home in Holyoke. The Hall provides the opportunity to bring people from different cultures and different parts of the world together to celebrate the sport.
The VHF operates volleyball tournaments and high-performance instructional clinics as well as several no-cost youth clinics throughout the year as part of our community outreach. These events draw both national, international, and local participants. Our Inductees also participate in various community speaking events at schools and organizations throughout Western Massachusetts during our Induction Weekend.
For over 30 years, the Volleyball Hall of Fame has been fulfilling its mission to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret quality objects and records. These documents and artifacts illuminate the history of volleyball from its conception to the modern day and its impact on the national and international culture. In the VHF collections there are notable: Olympic memorabilia, papers, historic files, books, magazines, posters, films, videos, uniforms, volleyballs, signs, banners, flags, and exhibit pieces. These artifacts represent an invaluable collection including one-of-a-kind items from significant events in the history of the sport.