CHICAGO- If you know a humanities hero in your community—someone who reads books to kids after school, teaches his or her 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 (IHC) Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award. Only mayors can make nominations. Nomination forms are being mailed toIllinois mayors now, and nominations are due September 1, 2006. Nominations will be certified by the IHC in September. If nominated individuals meet the criteria stated in the packet, they will receive the handsome bronze medal we are striking for this award in local ceremonies this fall.

Since 1999, nearly 400 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 and 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 “Educational Programs & Grants,” then click on “Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award” in the blue box on the right-hand side of the page.

The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized in 1973 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.

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