ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL TO HOST EVENT FOR STATE'S COMMUNITY HEROES
10/02/2007
Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award Recipients Will Meet at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Bradley Hall on October 17
CHICAGO—On October 17, 2007, the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) will host a reception for the 2006 recipients of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Bradley Hall from 5:30-7:30 PM. The Honorable Richard M. Daley serves as the event's honorary chair. This event is co-sponsored by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
Initiated by the IHC in 1999 to honor Illinois' unrecognized champions of the humanities, The Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award is given biennially to a diverse selection of educators, historians, and cultural advocates. The award was created as an honor for the state's lesser-know "humanities heroes," those individuals in each community who read books to children after school, teach their neighbors to read, keep the doors of the historical society open, and help preserve the connection with the past and the present. The IHC chose to honor these individuals who have demonstrated, in Studs Terkel's words, "The extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary people." Individuals considered for the Studs Terkel award must be nominated for the honor by their mayor or village president.
To date, the Illinois Humanities Council has named nearly 500 recipients of The Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, 75 of which were awarded in 2006. The 2006 Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award recipients hail from all regions of the state, from Carbondale to Chicago, and from Skokie to Springfield. These awardees were honored in local ceremonies last fall, and will gather together at this event for the first time to be honored as a group.
For a complete list of 2006 recipients and their communities, please visit the IHC's website at prairie.org/StudsTerkelAward. The program during the reception will feature remarks by Skokie Mayor and IHC Board member George Van Dusen; Cultural Historian for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Tim Samuelson; Poet Laureate of Park Forest Joseph A. Woods; and IHC Executive Director Kristina A. Valaitis. For more information about The Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award or the IHC, please visit www.prairie.org, email ihc@prairie.org, or call 312.422.5580.
The Illinois Humanities Council is an educational organization dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Through its programs and grants, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. Organized as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1973, the IHC is now a private nonprofit (501 [c] 3) organization that is funded by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations; by the Illinois General Assembly; and by the NEH.
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