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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 1999
News Release
NEA Honors Mfume, Huerta, Other Leaders With Human and Civil Rights Awards July 4
Orlando, Fla. -- NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and United Farm Workers (UFW) Vice President Dolores Huerta, along with 10 other individuals and two organizations, will be honored here by the National Education Association (NEA) on July 4 for their leadership roles in human and civil rights.
NEA President Bob Chase will present the honors at the Association's annual Human and Civil Rights banquet at the Orlando Omni Rosen Hotel. Presented for more than 30 years, the awards recognize educators and others from a variety of backgrounds who have fought for human and civil rights.
Two thousand educators and invited guests will attend the event, which commemorates NEA's 1966 merger with the predominantly Black organization, the American Teachers Association (ATA).
The awards are named in tribute to human and civil rights pioneers. NEA will present Mfume, of Baltimore, Md., its Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Award for his efforts in advancing human rights nationally and internationally and for restoring to fiscal health the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group.
Before assuming his leadership role at the NAACP, Mfume served in the U.S. Congress for 10 years, representing Maryland's 7th Congressional District. During his final two years in Congress, Mfume headed the Congressional Black Caucus, where he advocated for landmark civil rights and minority business legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Huerta, of Keene, Calif., will receive the César Chávez Acción Y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award. During her 35-year labor career, she has led several national boycotts, directed political efforts, and crusaded against health hazards posed by pesticides.
One of her many accomplishments with the UFW was the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act - the first law to recognize the collective bargaining rights of farmworkers in California.
Other recipients of NEA's 1999 Human and Civil Rights awards are:
Richard Knapp, Heidelberg, Germany, will receive the Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award for his efforts to further understanding among students worldwide, encouraging them to work for world peace through the Model U.N. program.
David Buckel, New York City, will receive the Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights for his work with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, fighting for the civil rights of gays and low-income disabled people.
Dr. Lois Tinson, Redwood City, Calif., will receive one of two H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Awards for her accomplishments as president of the California Teachers Association (CTA), including efforts to free the profession from inequities based on race or ethnicity, and for her community work.
The Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC), Little Rock, Ark., will receive the second H. Councill Trenholm Award for the historic actions of its members in the 1950s and `60s to integrate schools in Little Rock.
Gary Soto, Berkeley, Calif., will receive the Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award for his books, videos and poetry on the lives of Mexican Americans. Soto's works draw inspiration from Latino workers in the fields, factories and barrios of the United States.
Gen. John Stanford, Seattle, Wash., will receive, posthumously, the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award for his accomplishments as superintendent of Seattle public schools, helping establish a world-class, student-focused learning system for all students. General Stanford succumbed to cancer in late 1998, but he left behind a legacy of achievement, exemplified by the record of students in his district, whose reading scores improved every year of his three-year tenure.
Rosa Guerrero, El Paso, Texas, will receive the George I. Sánchez Memorial Award for her efforts to spread the message of accepting cultural diversity by raising scholarship funds for Hispanics, visiting schools and motivating students, and offering multicultural dance instruction at the International Folklórico Dance Group.
Margo P. Thompson-Miyamoto, Pittsburg, Calif., will receive the Leo Reano Memorial Award for her actions promoting equal educational opportunity for American Indian/Alaska Native children, working with the National Indian Education Association and the National Congress of American Indians.
Alexander and Jane Nakatani, Honolulu, will receive the Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award for their efforts to teach tolerance and acceptance by sharing their experiences raising two homosexual sons and another boy who had difficulty adjusting to being a racial minority in the United States, as described in their book Honor Thy Children.
Jacqueline Eurn Hai Young, Kailua, Hawaii, will receive the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award for her accomplishments as director of Project Esteem (Eliminating Sex Typing in Educational and Employment Matters), bringing attention to women's issues such as crimes against women.
The Missouri NEA, Jefferson City, will receive the Rosena J. Willis Memorial Award for its efforts to advance civil and human rights and to encourage minority leadership and community support for public education by working with Partners in Collaboration, the Missouri Partnership for Outstanding Schools, and the Education Roundtable.
Maribel Pulido, Colton, Calif., a student at Colton High School, will receive the SuAnne Big Crow Memorial Award. Orphaned at age 15, she has continued to maintain a 3.5 grade point average and membership in the National Honors Society, while demonstrating her leadership by motivating the school's Hispanic and African-American students through such activities as working as a facilitator in Peer Assistance Unity programs.
The NEA is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.4 million teachers, educational support personnel, and higher education faculty. The awards banquet is a highlight of NEA's 137th annual meeting, taking place in Orlando July 1-6.
Annual Human and Civil Rights Awards -
Award Designations
NEA's annual Human and Civil Rights Awards are named for the following pioneers and leaders in this nation's pursuit of equality.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Award: Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) is recognized as the nation's most effective and inspirational civil rights leader.
César Chávez Accíon Y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award: César Chávez (1927-1993), as founder of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), devoted his life to improving working conditions and gaining living wages for the nation's exploited farmworkers using the method of nonviolence.
Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award: Irvamae Applegate (1920-1973), 1966-67 NEA president and Executive Committee member of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (now Education International), and Sidney Dorros (1925-1993), consultant to the NEA Bicentennial Committee, worked tirelessly to promote international understanding and to involve young people in world peace efforts.
H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award: Harper Councill Trenholm (1900-1963) served for 21 years as executive secretary of the American Teachers Association, the nation's premier organization of black educators, and helped bring about the merger of ATA and NEA.
Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award: Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) was a scholar and historian. He founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, published books and journals about Black history, and initiated what is now Black History Month.
George I. Sánchez Memorial Award: George I. Sánchez (1906-1972) was an educator, historian and author who devoted his life to the education of Mexican, Navajo and black children. He is known as the "father of the movement for quality education for Mexican Americans."
Leo Reano Memorial Award: Leo Reano (1922-1971) was a teacher, artist and interpreter. A member of the Santo Domingo Indian Pueblo, Reano dedicated his life to securing educational opportunities for American Indian/Alaska Native children.
Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award: Ellison S. Onizuka (1946-1986) was a Japanese-American aerospace engineer and the first Asian/Pacific Islander chosen by NASA for the astronaut program. Onizuka served as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all aboard.
Mary Hatwood Futrell Award: Mary Hatwood Futrell (1940- ) served as president of ERAmerica, increasing national awareness of the Equal Rights Amendment. She served three terms as president of NEA, making NEA a champion of women's rights. She presently heads Education International (EI), a trade union which represents 23 million teachers and workers in education in 152 countries and territories.
Rosena J. Willis Memorial Award: Rosena J. Willis (1926-1970) helped pioneer NEA's early human and civil rights efforts. When her school district closed rather than desegregate its public schools, she became one of the original displaced school teachers.
SuAnne Big Crow Memorial Award: SuAnne Big Crow (1974-1992) was an American Indian student in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. An outstanding athlete, student leader, and role model, she spent her high school years working to give her peers on the reservation a greater sense of self-worth and dignity. Big Crow died in an automobile accident at the age of 17.
Annual Human and Civil Rights Awards -
Award Categories
NEA's annual Human and Civil Rights Awards are named for the following pioneers and leaders in this nation's pursuit of equality.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Award: Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) is recognized as the nation's most effective and inspirational civil rights leader.
César Chávez Accíon Y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award: César Chávez (1927-1993), as founder of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), devoted his life to improving working conditions and gaining living wages for the nation's exploited farmworkers using the method of nonviolence.
Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award: Irvamae Applegate (1920-1973), 1966-67 NEA president and Executive Committee member of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (now Education International), and Sidney Dorros (1925-1993), consultant to the NEA Bicentennial Committee, worked tirelessly to promote international understanding and to involve young people in world peace efforts.
H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award: Harper Councill Trenholm (1900-1963) served for 21 years as executive secretary of the American Teachers Association, the nation's premier organization of Black educators, and helped bring about the merger of ATA and NEA.
Carter G. Woodson Memorial Awards: Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) was a scholar and historian. He founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, published books and journals about Black history, and initiated what is now Black History Month.
George I. Sánchez Memorial Award: George I. Sánchez (1906-1972) was an educator, historian and author who devoted his life to the education of Mexican, Navajo and black children. He is known as the "father of the movement for quality education for Mexican Americans."
Leo Reano Memorial Award: Leo Reano (1922-1971) was a teacher, artist and interpreter. A member of the Santo Domingo Indian Pueblo, Reano dedicated his life to securing educational opportunities for American Indian/Alaska Native children.
Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award: Ellison S. Onizuka (1946-1986) was a Japanese-American aerospace engineer and the first Asian/Pacific Islander chosen by NASA for the astronaut program. Onizuka served as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all aboard.
Mary Hatwood Futrell Award: Mary Hatwood Futrell (1940- ) served as president of ERAmerica, increasing national awareness of the Equal Rights Amendment. She served three terms as president of NEA, making NEA a champion of women's rights. She presently heads Education International (EI), a trade union which represents 23 million teachers and workers in education in 152 countries and territories.
Rosena J. Willis Memorial Award: Rosena J. Willis (1926-1970) helped pioneer NEA's early human and civil rights efforts. When her school district closed rather than desegregate its public schools, she became one of the original displaced school teachers.
SuAnne Big Crow Memorial Award: SuAnne Big Crow (1974-1992) was an American Indian student in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. An outstanding athlete, student leader, and role model, she spent her high school years working to give her peers on the reservation a greater sense of self-worth and dignity. Big Crow died in an automobile accident at the age of 17.
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