Latest news with #MuseumofAmericanHistory
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'There Is No Future In Forgetting': Watch Great Americans Medal Recipient Ava DuVernay's Smithsonian Speech
'Let us remind those who try to 'restore' a narrow, divisive past, that the future belongs to the whole of us,' said Great Americans Medal recipient Ava DuVernay to a Washington DC crowd this week upon receiving the honor from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Rebuking those who 'fear…the full American story told in its dazzling complexity and devastating contradictions,' the Academy Award nominee also noted 'history is not a weapon to be sheathed when inconvenient. It is not a bedtime story meant to lull us to sleep. It is a river, flowing… deep and often turbulent.' More from Deadline Cecily Strong Returns As Merlot-Spewing Jeanine Pirro In 'Saturday Night Live' Open That Skewers Donald Trump's Fox News Picks Michael Feinstein Slams Kennedy Center For "Government-Sanctioned Censorship" Francis Ford Coppola Talks 'Megalopolis' Cult Status "After The Election" & Denounces Trump's Tariffs Putting it very bluntly, DuVernay told the crowd: There is no future in forgetting. While never directly mentioning Donald Trump by name in her May 8 remarks, DuVernay characteristically made her point extremely clear to anyone picking up what she was putting down about his ongoing MAGA attacks on democracy, diversity and the Smithsonian itself. Stating that 'now at a time when truth itself is under revision,' the filmmaker and activist starkly added: 'We know that what is sometimes labeled improper ideology is in fact connective, that what some call distorted is simply a new perspective, long buried, now revealed.' Joining past Great Americans Award recipients Gen. Colin Powell, Thomas J. Brokaw, Ex-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Cal Ripken Jr., Billie Jean King, Paul Simon, Anthony Fauci, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (posthumously) and YoYo Ma, DuVernay is the 10th person to be given the honor. The ARRAY founder is also 'the first director, writer and producer to receive the award,' according to the Smithsonian. Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Award winner DuVernay was chosen this year because of 'her lifetime contributions embodying American ideas and ideals,' the Smithsonian said in its announcement of the award. Watch the career spanning Honoree video that preceded DuVernay's speech here: 'DuVernay's extraordinary impact through the medium of film, using it to cast an unflinching eye on American history brought her forward as someone who exemplifies the highest ideals of artistry, altruism and advocacy,' the museum's Elizabeth MacMillan Director Anthea M. Hartig said of the Origin director in presenting the award. 'Her service and achievements embody the true meaning of a Great American.' Read Ava DuVernay's full Smithsonian speech here: Thank you to the National Museum of American History, Dr. Hartig and the remarkable leadership of the Smithsonian for bestowing upon me this truly incredible honor. It is not lost on me – what it means to stand in this place, supported by an institution that understands the weight of history… and the wonder of telling it well. That understanding feels especially urgent now, at a time when truth itself is under revision… and fear feels like an animating force. Fear of mirrors. Fear of memory. Fear of the full American story told in its dazzling complexity and devastating contradictions. History is not a weapon to be sheathed when inconvenient. It is not a bedtime story meant to lull us to sleep. It is a river, flowing… deep and often turbulent. And the Smithsonian has long been the bridge that lets us cross with care. We know that what is sometimes labeled 'improper ideology' is in fact connective. That what some call 'distorted' is simply a new perspective—long buried, now revealed. Let me tell you about the child who walks into the Smithsonian and sees a photograph of a woman who looks like her mother, who looks like her grandmother, standing tall in protest, or in prayer, or in pride. Let me tell you about the teacher who brings students here because their textbooks will not speak of redlining, or Tulsa, or internment camps, or Stonewall. Let me tell you about the families—Black, white, brown, immigrant, native—who walk through those doors and feel that this country might make room for all of them. That is not indoctrination. That is belonging. That is education. That is democracy. And at the helm of this bastion of truth stands a man of vision, a man of class, of fortitude, secretary, doctor extravagant —Dr. Lonnie Bunch. The first historian to lead the Smithsonian. The first African American to do so. A curator of courage. A guardian of good. A builder of bridges between pain and progress. Under his stewardship, the Smithsonian has done what America must continue to do—confront the contradictions in our founding, illuminate the fault lines in our systems, and still hold space for grace, for grit, for growth, for greatness. Because here the truth is… There is no honor in history that flatters itself. There is no integrity in memory that only remembers some. And there is no future in forgetting. To those who would close their eyes to injustice, who would silence the voices of our elders, our ancestors, our scholars, our artists —I offer this: We will not comply with forgetting. We will not make myths in place of memory. We will not trade the truth for comfort. Instead, we will gather. We will remember. We will teach. We will share. We will tell it all. Let us hold that line. And let us remind those who try to 'restore' a narrow, divisive past — That the future belongs to the whole of us. And even when the current swell is upon us, the bridge will hold, because truth deserves passage. And with the Smithsonian and this museum, we do not cross alone. Thank you for tonight, very much. Best of Deadline All The Songs In Netflix's 'Forever': From Tyler The Creator To SZA 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Chicago Tribune
07-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Park Forest to induct seven residents into its hall of fame
Park Forest has always been conscious of its history. Not many communities have had books written about the way it shaped city planning, such as 'America's G. I. Town' by Greg Randall, a best-seller about the creation of a new kind of corporate society. Or 'The Organization Man' by William Whyte, or a display in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History on how the village helped change post- war commuting habits. The town has won two All-America City awards and in the finals on two other occasions. Thus, it seems only logical there is the Park Forest Hall of Fame to honor those who helped create and complete this different and diverse community. At 3 p.m. this Sunday in Freedom Hall, seven people, most of whom flew under the radar of community life, will be inducted into the Park Forest Hall of Fame. This ceremony, an annual affair of the Park Forest Historical Society, is meant to highlight the village's unique place in the life of a community founded 76 years ago as a post-World War II model. This year the following seven people will be inducted. Famed Rich East High School football coach George Egofske, who coached four undefeated teams in the 1960s and was twice elected to the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame, as a multisport athlete at Illinois State university and as a trailblazing coach. Pioneer settlers Aaron and Rose Greenberg, who planted a seed that blossomed into Park Forest's commercial future when they opened Sexton's on the Mall, the first food and beverage business in the new town. Karen Blackful, who worked at the Park Forest Public Library for 24 years, was a member of the village's Recreation and Parks Advisory Board and, according to her children, instilled love for and service to the village. Her son, Victor, is Freedom Hall's cultural arts supervisor. Julie Townsend, a reluctant nominee who is the president of the Park Forest Garden Club and, along with her late husband 'Pastor Bob' Townsend, is a pillar of support for Calvary United Protestant Church. Ruth Smith, who for nearly 60 years or since she and her late husband, Carroll, moved into town has been a vital contributor to the welfare of the village as a music teacher as well as the longtime director of the Park Forest Chansonettes. Susan Blatchford, who juggles two fundamental tasks in and for Park Forest. In her six years as head of Park Forest's Beautification Awards program, she has streamlined a cumbersome program and takes to social media on a routine basis to correct distortion, half truths and lies about the village. With these seven honorees, the hall of fame now numbers 216 individuals and another nine groups, clubs and area organizations. Philip Klutznick, recognized as the person with the vision for a community, one which helped returning World War II veterans find new homes for new families,was the first inductee and the most obvious choice to become the first entrant into the hall in 1989, the 40th anniversary of incorporation. It took another five years before the society decided how to put a bell on the cat and that the easiest thing to do was hold an annual selection process and hold an annual election. In 1994, 11 more were named to the hall. That turned the one-time ceremony into an annual and respected event One would think recognition by your neighbors is a warm and fuzzy medal of honor, and in many cases, family written obituaries include this honor. Through all those years, society Director Jane Nicoll has been its most ardent supporter and advocate for the preservation of this community's history and archives. As I wrote earlier this year, the society is seeking a permanent site for the vast archival collection as its time in soon-to-be closed St. Mary Catholic Church on Monee Road comes to an end.
