LEH “Humanist of the Year” and other awards presented...

LEH President and Executive Director Michael Sartisky presented the LEH’s “2007 Humanist of the
Year” Award to Richard Gruber, executive director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
It was one of several humanities awards presented March 24th during the LEH’s 2007 Awards Ceremony held at the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow, La.

The award winners are:

Humanist of the Year

• J. Richard Gruber, Executive Director, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans

Lifetime Contributions

• Susan Larson, Book Editor, the New Orleans Times-Picayune 

Chair’s Award for Institutional Support

• LSU in Shreveport – Over the years, LSU in Shreveport has been a critical partner for the LEH in providing cultural and educational programming to people and communities in north Louisiana.

Individual Achievement in the Humanities

• Dr. Mary Jill Brody, the Fred B. Kniffen Professor of Geography and Anthropology, LSU, Baton Rouge
• John Magill, Head of Research, The Historic New Orleans Collection

Public Humanities Programming

• North Louisiana Folklife Inc., for its community history, From Bouef to Beaucoup: Vintage Tales of Caldwell Parish

Humanities Book of the Year

Douglas Brinkley’s The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

• Jed Horne’s Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City
• Richard Campanella’s Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm.

Humanities Teacher of the Year

• Diego Gonzales, Benjamin Franklin High School

Legislative Awards

• Congressman Bobby Jindal
• State Senator Willie Mount
• State Senator Butch Gautreaux