Naperville woman wins Studs Terkel Award
The Illinois Humanities Council has announced the recipients of the 2009 Studs Terkel Humanities Service Awards. Among the winners is Naperville's Stephanie Downs Hughes.
The award, now in its 10th year, recognizes individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the cultural life of their communities.
Hughes is involved in Diversity Dinners, which have been putting together eclectic groups of 10 that gather in members' homes to share cooperative suppers and searching conversations.
She also works with Just Views, monthly, free, film-anchored issues discussions that let the audience explore vital social questions.
Hughes leads both the Diversity Dinners and the Just Views programs which, in different ways, nurture cross-cultural sharing, personal storytelling, reflection, critical thinking, empathy and collaboration.
"Her goal is to have a small group become friends, become educated and feel free to express their opinion civilly at any time," said Naperville Mayor A. George Pradel, who nominated her for the award.
The 44 local "humanities heroes" were selected by their mayors for their exemplary efforts to champion the humanities in their communities.
"The IHC could not have identified the more than 40 Studs Terkel medallists without the help of Illinois mayors and village presidents," said IHC Executive Director Kristina A. Valaitis. "We are so pleased that in the 10th year of this program, we are able to honor these champions of the humanities that make their communities and our whole state more vibrant."
The awardees of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award will receive an engraved medal of recognition at ceremonies held in their communities throughout the fall.
Named after the prize-winning oral historian and author Studs Terkel, the awards reflect the spirit of this prominent son of Illinois. Terkel was a modern-day renaissance man: an actor, playwright, jazz columnist, film narrator and disc jockey. He is perhaps most admired for documenting 20th-century America through the words and voices of ordinary people.
Visit www.prairie.org/studsterkelaward .
