President Obama has announced that nine individuals will receive the National Humanities Medal at a White House ceremony on Monday July 28. Winners of the National Humanities Medal are honored for outstanding achievements in “history, cultural studies, filmmaking, cultural commentary, and historic preservation.” Among the nine individuals winners are two African Americans. One of the two African American winners has current ties to the academic world.
Darlene Clark Hine is a professor of history and professor of African American studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is being honored for “enriching our understanding of the African American experience.” The citation accompanying the award states that, “through prolific scholarship and leadership, Dr. Hine has examined race, class, and gender and shown how the struggles and successes of African American women shaped the Nation we share today.”
Professor Hine is the author of many books including Hine Sight: Black Women and the Re-Construction of American History (Indiana University Press, 1996). Before joining the faculty at Northwestern University in 2004, Professor Hine taught at Michigan State University for 17 years. She is a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Kent State University in Ohio.