BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will announce Monday the creation of an international award to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to freedom and human rights around the world.
The first International Freedom Conductor Award will be presented Sept. 26 at a dinner in downtown Cincinnati's Westin Hotel.
Modeled after the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, the award will be given to individuals based on how their actions and words reflect the "spirit and courageous actions of the "conductors' of the Underground Railroad," the center's announcement said.
The so-called conductors were people who risked their lives and livelihoods to help people escape slavery through the secret network of houses, churches and barns known as the underground railroad. "The award is a manifestation of the mission of the freedom center," center President and CEO Ed Rigaud said. "It is a visible way to exemplify the qualities of courageous individuals so others can use them as models."
Winners of the award will receive a monetary prize and a commemorative piece of artwork. Center officials have not yet determined the prize amount or the artwork design.
Mr. Rigaud said center officials don't expect the award to have the same cachet as the Nobel or Pulitzer prizes in the first few years, but they hope it will become that prestigious over time.
Last month, the center announced the creation of a national distinguished lecture series to honor former Cincinnati Mayor Theodore M. Berry.
The inaugural National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Theodore M. Berry Distinguished Lecture: A Series on Public Policy and Human Rights, will be delivered Sept. 25, the day before the first International Freedom Conductor Award is presented.
Hundreds of national leaders in business, education and government are expected to attend the award dinner.
They include members of the center's national advisory board, such as Sanford Cloud, president and CEO of The National Conference; Vernon E. Jordan Jr., former president of the National Urban League; Richard Parsons, president of Time Warner Inc.; John Pepper, chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble Co.; and Myrlie Evers-Williams, former chairwoman of the NAACP.
The $80 million freedom center is scheduled to open on Cincinnati's riverfront in 2003.
