"Chicago Labor and Working Class History Map" to be acknowledged during 2004 Chicago Labor and Arts Festival

Chicago-The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) has awarded this year’s Lawrence W. Towner award to the Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago for its project Chicago Labor and Working Class History Map. The IHC’s Senior Program Officer Clark Halker will present the award during the Chicago Labor and Arts Festival at HotHouse, The Center for International Performance and Exhibition (31 E Balbo Ave) on Friday, April 23 at 9:00pm .

Every January, the IHC board votes on the award from a list of five grants from the previous year, identified by IHC staff as embracing unconventional or unique methods in pursuit of ambitious goals. With the support of a major grant from the IHC, The UIC Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies created a map that illustrates several key events and sites in Chicago’s Labor History. The map, which will be unveiled at a ceremony this Labor Day, is suitable for use by schools, libraries, unions, public history events/organizations, and local heritage tourism organizations.

The Towner Award was created by the Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors to honor William "Bill" Towner, past President of the Newberry Library and chair of the IHC board of directors. Towner was beloved for his venturesome spirit and the award was instituted to encourage "risk-taking in the development and execution of a public humanities project."

Previous winners of the Towner Award include Beyondmedia Education for their "Women in Prison" project, Video Machete for their "Global Youth Project," the Rockford Art Museum for the Hager Collection of African-American Contemporary Folk Art, the University of Chicago for its project "Trading Fours: Jazz and its Milieu," the Chicago Historical Society for its project "A House Divided," and the Illinois State Museum for its floating exhibit "Harvesting the River."

For more information about The Chicago Labor and Working Class History Map or the UIC Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies, please contact Leon Fink at 312.413.9357. Further information about the Illinois Humanities Council may be obtained by visiting www.prairie.org or calling 312.422.5580.

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