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Governor’s Humanities Awards Presentation Will Honor Outstanding Missourians and Missouri Organizations

October 13, 2010

COLUMBIA, MO— The 2010 Governor’s Humanities Awards will honor three Missouri residents and two organizations that display exemplary community achievement, one demonstrating excellence in education and one for distinguished literary achievement today, Oct. 13 at Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.

Each year the state of Missouri and the Missouri Humanities Council celebrate the accomplishments of people who have made exceptional contributions to the understanding of Missouri, its people and its stories. These awards are based on nominations from colleagues, students, associates and the general public for outstanding contributions to the humanities in Missouri.

“The Missouri Humanities Council commends this select group of Missourians and Missouri organizations that have made lasting contributions to our culture, to our greater knowledge and to the quality of life in communities across the state of Missouri,” said Geoff Giglierano, Missouri Humanities Council executive director. “We are indebted to them, as through their work, they have contributed to the larger goal of helping to foster a civil, literate and thoughtful society.”

Jean Turney, a teacher at St. Johns the Baptist, St. Louis, will be honored with the Excellence in Education Award, which recognizes one or more teachers of English, history, languages or social studies, grades K-12, in Missouri’s public or private schools.

• Turney is recognized for her dedicated work in broadening education for her students, including pioneering a program that uses Forest Park as an outdoor classroom through involvement with Forest Park Forever’s Voyage of Learning Teachers’ Academy and sharing her experiences as a teacher at a Youth Building Peace Camp the past two summers in Jinja, Uganda, Africa.

Three individuals and two organizations will be honored with the Exemplary Community Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual or group that has made a special contribution to a community’s understanding of and support for humanities-related endeavors on the local or state level.

• Andrew County Museum & Historical Society for preserving the history of the rural lifestyle through their latest exhibit, A Rural Way of Life: Andrew County Missouri, 1841-2001. The exhibit looks at the evolution of agricultural technology, small town businesses, divisions in the local community during the Civil War, the impact of changing modes of transportation and the cycle of life in town or on a family farm.

• Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal for keeping the legacy of Mark Twain alive and thriving, by helping people get to know what he stood for and what he still has to share with generations to come. The Home & Museum offers a variety of activities and workshops for students, teachers, community members and youth and adult visitors to explore the life of Mark Twain.

• Dr. Reynaldo Anderson is a professor at Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, for his work with students both in and out of the classroom, and his efforts with community groups and individuals to further their understanding of history, language and philosophy. Anderson is an executive member of the Missouri Arts Council, serving on the Minority Arts and Arts Education Panels. He is also a member and an advocate for C.U.R.E. International, a prison reform organization, in addition to working with various other community organizations.

• James Beckner of Raymore for his contribution in Civil War reenactments and educational opportunities to help the public experience and understand the war better. Beckner is an active member and often an executive member of four Civil War round tables, has appeared in and consulted for more than 30 movies, documentaries and plays and has helped organize and enact some of the best Civil War reenactments in the five-state area.

• Dr. Kathleen Butterly Nigro, professor at University of Missouri, St. Louis, for her work to share the humanities with the community and the state through a multitude of literary discussions, speeches, exhibits and cultural events. One of Nigro’s largest accomplishments is spearheading ReadMOre, a program that encourages reading, discussing and communicating about one chosen novel on both a community and state-wide basis.

Gladys Caines Coggswell of Frankford will be honored with the Distinguished Literary Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual or group whose book or publication has increased understanding and appreciation of Missouri’s history and culture.

• Coggswell, an award winning fulltime professional storyteller, for her portrayal of both her own life and the untold stories of African Americans across the state in her latest book, “Stories From the Heart: Missouri’s African American Heritage.” For the past 20 years, Coggswell has been traveling throughout local communities collecting stories to give insight to the African American experience in Missouri.

The presentation of the awards will be lead by Missouri Humanities Council Chairman of the Board of Directors, Eric Zahn, with additional speeches from executive director, Giglierano, Representative Rachel Bringer of the Missouri House of Representatives, and Deborah Luchenbill, state coordinator of the National History Day in Missouri.

National History Day in Missouri is a program that encourages young people to explore history and teaches them to understand historical issues, ideas, people and events. Participants conduct in-depth research on individual topics related to an annual theme and present their findings through an exhibit, performance, documentary, website or research paper. More than 2,500 Missouri students in grades 6-12 participate in local and regional competitions throughout the state on the theme Innovation in History: Impact & Change, with more than 500 advancing to the state contest at the University of Missouri-Columbia in April.

In June, Missouri’s top students represented the state as delegates to the National History Day competition, competing against students from around the country at the University of Maryland, College Park. This year, four students from Missouri were selected as finalists at the national level and will be honored at the Governor’s Humanities Awards ceremony:

• Patrick Lawhon of Pembroke Hill School, Kansas City, with sponsor Sam Knopik was awarded first place for his project on the innovation of shipping containers, “The Box That Made the World Smaller.”

• Emily Duncan of Liberty Junior High School, Liberty, with sponsor Inga Nordstrom-Kelly was awarded eighth place for her project, “The Discovery of Insulin: A Medical Marvel for the Sugar Sickness.”

• Justin Shock of Gideon Junior High, Gideon, with sponsor James Breece was awarded ninth place with his project about the invention of Braille and the innovation for the blind community, “Out of Darkness.”

• Matt Vallorani of Holy Infant School, Ballwin, with sponsor Bob Stevens was awarded ninth place for his project “Steam Engine & Industrial Revolution.”

National History Day in Missouri is sponsored by the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia at the University of Missouri and The State Historical Society of Missouri.