Northwestern University history professor Darlene Clark Hine will receive a National Humanities Medal for outstanding achievements in history Monday at the White House.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to present the award, which recognizes work in history, cultural studies, filmmaking, cultural commentary and historic preservation, to Hine and nine other recipients.
The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizen engagement with the humanities or helped preserve and expand access to important resources in the humanities.
Hine is a leading historian of the African-American experience and a pioneer in African-American women’s history.
She is receiving the National Humanities Medal for her efforts in enriching the understanding of the African-American experience. by showing how the struggles and successes of African-American women have shaped the nation today.
In an interview, Hine said she wanted to write a new, more inclusive history of the United States.
“I have devoted the last four decades to excavating the past — trying to find records and documents and stories from those who are not ordinarily included as significant participants in the making of America,” she said.
“Part of my obligation as a professor is to share what I’ve learned not only within the University, but also with people outside the gates, from all different walks of life.”
Hine teaches both African American studies and history at NU. She is the author or editor of “The African-American Odyssey,” “Beyond Bondage,” “Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Profession,” “A Question of Manhood,” “A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America” and numerous other books and publications.
Other medalists are: literary critic M.H. Abrams; historians David Brion Davis and Anne Firor Scott; East Asian scholar William Theodore De Bary; architect Johnpaul Jones; filmmaker Stanley Nelson; radio hosts Diane Rehmand Krista Tippett; and the historical organization the American Antiquarian Society.
The medals ceremony will be live-streamed at 2 p.m. CT on Monday at www.whitehouse.gov/live.