Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. to Deliver the Caldwell Lecture for the Humanities
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The trustees of the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, have chosen North Carolinian Betty Ray McCain as the recipient of the 2012 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, the Council’s most prestigious public humanities honor. The award ceremony is scheduled for October 5, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. at the Lauren Kennedy and Allen Campbell Theater at Barton College in Wilson, N.C. The event is free and open to the public.
Governor James B. Hunt Jr., currently a partner of Womble, Carlyle Sandridge and Rice, LLC, will deliver the annual Caldwell Lecture for the Humanities at the event.
McCain has served the state in a variety of capacities, most prominently as the Secretary of Cultural Resources between 1993 and 2001. She was elected four times to the UNC Board of Governors. She was also instrumental in the building of the current North Carolina Museum of History and excavating the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the pirate Blackbeard’s ship. She has also served as the chair of the Board of Trustees at UNC-TV and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Board of Visitors. She is working on an oral history project to honor the veterans of World War II in Wilson County.
Additionally, McCain has received a number of accolades, including the North Carolina Award and induction into the North Carolina Women’s Hall of Fame. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Arts in Music from Colombia University. She holds honorary degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Greensboro, and Barton College.
With the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, the North Carolina Humanities Council recognizes those exceptional individuals who throughout their lives and careers have strengthened the educational, cultural, and civic life of North Carolinians. The award is named for the late Dr. John Tyler Caldwell, former chancellor of North Carolina State University.
Past Caldwell Laureates include William Friday, Anne Firor Scott, Ben Fountain, Emily Herring Wilson, Walt Wolfram, Marsha White Warren, and Fred Chappell.
The North Carolina Humanities Council is a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Humanities Council serves as an advocate for lifelong learning and thoughtful dialogue about all facets of human life. It facilitates the exploration and celebration of the many voices and stories of North Carolina’s cultures and heritage. In addition to grants and publications, the Council offers the Road Scholars speakers bureau; the Let’s Talk About It library discussion series; the 2012 traveling exhibition Museum on Main Street, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and rural communities statewide; and the Teachers Institute, a professional development program for the state’s public school teachers. To learn more about the North Carolina Humanities Council, visit www.nchumanities.org.