CHICAGO- If you know a humanities hero in your community—someone who reads books to kids after school, teaches their neighbors to read, or keeps the doors to the historical society open—please contact your mayor and ask that your “hero” be nominated for an Illinois Humanities Council Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award. Only mayors can make nominations. Nomination forms are being mailed to all Illinois mayors, and nominations are due August 23, 2004. Nominations will be certified by the IHC in September, and recipients will receive their bronze medallions in local ceremonies this fall.

Since 1999, nearly 300 recipients of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award have been honored in civic ceremonies across Illinois. These recipients are the types of people who see the connection between the past and future of their neighborhoods and communities. By their examples, they help us to recognize the importance of the humanities in all our lives. Their efforts enrich civic life at the local level.

For more information on this award, please contact the IHC at 312.422.5580, send us an e-mail at ihc@prairie.org, or visit our website at www.prairie.org and click on “Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award.”

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