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President George W. Bush and Laura Bush stand with 2005 National Humanities Medal recipients Lewis Lehrman and Richard Gilder, Thursday, November 10, 2005 in the Oval Office.
White House photo by Eric Draper
At a White House ceremony on November 10th, President George W. Bush
presented Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman with the 2005 National Humanities
Medal. Gilder and Lehrman are co-founders and co-chairmen of the Gilder
Lehrman Institute of American History.
First awarded in 1989 as the Charles Frankel Prize, the National Humanities
Medal honors individuals and organizations whose work has deepened the
nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens' engagement
with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand America's access
to important humanities resources.
In 1994, Gilder and Lehrman founded the Institute to promote the study
and love of American history. Increasingly national and international
in scope, the Institute targets audiences ranging from students to scholars
to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic
research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators,
partners with school districts to implement Teaching American History
grants, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions,
and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. The Institute also funds
awards including the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and George Washington
Book Prizes and offers fellowships for scholars to work in history archives,
including the Gilder Lehrman Collection.
"Lew and I honor America's story, that of the only nation built
on ideas, and we believe those ideas must be understood, interpreted,
taught, preserved, and discussed by Americans of all generations, and
peoples of every nationality," said Gilder.
"Dick Gilder and I share an abiding love of American history and
the contribution of every American citizen to this great story,"
said Lehrman. "We have tried to establish institutions which help
Americans to rediscover their heritage and their common national identity.
Our work has tried to honor great American heroes like George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass --- and the principles and freedom
for which they fought."
"But we have not done it alone. We have had a great team of men
and women who understand that history is important, that facts matter,
that enduring values and eternal truths don't change."
For more information about this award, visit www.whitehouse.gov.
