On Thursday, October 29, at 4:00 pm EDT, the North Carolina Humanities Council will honor NC Literary Hall of Fame inductee Dr. James W. Clark, Jr., with the 2020 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities. The ceremony will be held online.
The celebration includes a special address from Christie Hinson Norris, Director of Carolina K-12, remarks from the Caldwell family, music by gospel singer and educator Mary D. Williams, and more.
Everyone can watch the program for free on the NCHC Facebook and YouTube pages. To attend, simply visit these pages at 4:00 PM EST on October 29, and you will see the stream playing.
Dr. Clark is being honored for his statewide impact and achievements as a program director, professor, North Carolina literary historian, and public humanities scholar. A native North Carolinian, Dr. James W. Clark, Jr. has championed and contributed to North Carolina’s rich literary and cultural heritage for nearly six decades. He holds degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke and is English Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University, where he served on the faculty for almost 40 years. During his first decade at State, his chancellor and mentor was Dr. Caldwell. Both men emphasized the importance of humanities education on and off campus.
For more about Dr. Clark, Jr., click here.
The John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, the Council’s highest honor, has been presented annually since its inauguration in 1990. Named for its first recipient, the late Dr. John Tyler Caldwell, from 1959-1975 the chancellor of NC State University and a founding member of the NC Humanities Council, the award pays tribute to individuals whose life and work illuminate one or more of the multiple dimensions of human life where the humanities come into play: civic, personal, intellectual, and moral. Past Caldwell laureates include NC Literary Hall of Fame inductees Doris Betts (1992), Reynolds Price (2002), and Fred Chappell (2010).
The North Carolina Humanities Council is a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through grant-making and public humanities programs, the Council serves as an advocate for lifelong learning and thoughtful dialogue about our shared human experience. The Council operates the NC Center for the Book, an affiliate program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. To learn more visit www.nchumanities.org.