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The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. Daniel Aaron (left) was recognized for his contributions to American literature and culture, and Bernard Bailyn was recognized for illuminating the nation’s early history and pioneering the field of Atlantic history.
Photos by Stephanie Mitchell and Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographers
Campus & Community
National Humanities Medals awarded
White House recognizes Harvard’s Daniel Aaron, Bernard Bailyn
President Barack Obama announced the 10 winners of the 2010 National Humanities Medal, awarded for outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, and cultural policy, on March 1. Literary scholar Daniel Aaron, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of English and American Literature Emeritus, and Bernard Bailyn, Adams University Professor Emeritus, were among those honored at a White House ceremony on March 2.
The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.
Aaron was recognized for his contributions to American literature and culture. As the founding president of the Library of America, he helped preserve the nation’s heritage by publishing America’s most significant writing in authoritative editions.
Bailyn was recognized for illuminating the nation’s early history and pioneering the field of Atlantic history. Bailyn, who spent his career at Harvard, has won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution” and one for “Voyagers to the West.”
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