LINCOLN- Civil rights leader Malcolm X survived the first cut to be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame along with educator/author Louise Pound and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer/director Howard Hanson.

The seven-member State Hall of Fame Committee pared the list of eight nominees to the three finalists after a brief discussion. The commission took testimony about the candidates at public hearings held last month in each of the state’s three congressional districts, and considered written testimony.

A final selection will be made Sept. 12 at a public meeting at the State Capitol.

Pound, an English professor who was a pioneer in linguistic studies and the only woman in University of Nebraska history to letter in a men’s sport, received votes of six of the seven board members, with Malcolm X receiving five and Hanson four.

Every five years the Hall of Fame Commission picks a new inductee into the state Hall, which is located in the State Capitol. A person must be deceased for at least 35 years to be inducted.

There are 26 members of the Hall, including Buffalo Bill, Ponca Chief Standing Bear and Boys Town founder Father Flanagan, but no African-American inductees.

Fifteen years ago, Malcolm X was deemed too controversial to be inducted.

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