Three people will be inducted into the Springfield Public Schools Hall of Fame Thursday.
Homer Boyd will receive the award posthumously. He was attending Lincoln High School when he met the Philharmonics at the Gibson Chsapel Presbyterian Church. they had lost one of their singers and requested that Boyd join them. He accepted and sang with the group until he graduated and started his nationwide tour. He was drafted during the Korean War and was part of a group that traveled from troop to troop to lift spirits through music. He re-joined the Philharmonics, and they became the first African American performers on the Ozark Jubilee.
Kim Crosby, another inductee, attended Kickapoo High School and went on to star in several Broadway productions, including Into the Woods.
The other person to be inducted is Dr. Tom Prater, who served on the Springfield Board of Education and helped create the SPS Hall of Fame. Prater is an eye surgeon at Mattax, Neu, Prater Eye Center and serves on Springfield City Council.
They'll be inducted during the annual SPS Hall of Fame Luncheon October 18.
