Robert A. Caro, author of biographies of Robert Moses and President Lyndon Johnson, accepts the National Humanities Medal from US President Barack Obama in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 25, 2010, in Washington,D.C. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo
Soprano Jessye Norman (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama after she was awarded the National Medal of Arts in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 25, 2010, in Washington. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo
Theodore C. Sorensen (L), presidential speechwriter and adviser to President John F. Kennedy and later political author, is awarded the National Humanities Medal from U.S. President Barack Obama in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 25, 2010, in Washington. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo
U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Rita Moreno before he awards her the 2009 National Arts Medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 25, 2010. Moreno, a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress, is the first and only Hispanic and one of ten performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) stands by after he awarded Elie Wiesel the 2009 National Humanities Medal by during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 25, 2010. Wiesel is a writer, professor at Boston University, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, the best known of which is Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo
U.S. President Barack Obama awards the 2009 National Arts Medal to film composer John Williams during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 25, 2010. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars, Superman, Home Alone, the first three Harry Potter movies and all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature films including the Indiana Jones series, Schindler's List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and Jaws. UPI/Shawn Thew/Pool | License Photo
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Thursday honored 20 artists, writers and civic leaders in a ceremony postponed from last year because of the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre.
The president presented the National Medal of the Arts to graphic designer Milton Glaser; architect Maya Lin; soprano Jessye Norman; Charleston, S.C., Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; composer John Williams; actress/dancer Rita Moreno; and painter/sculptor Frank Stella. Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and filmmaker Clint Eastwood were also named recipients of the honor but were not at the White House for the ceremony, which also honored the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the School of American Ballet.
The National Humanities Medal was awarded to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel; historians Robert A. Caro, Annette Gordon-Reed, David Levering Lewis and William H. McNeill, as well as White House speechwriter Theodore Sorensen; former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Philippe de Montebello; and philanthropist Albert H. Small.
In a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Obama said the arts and humanities "enrich the mind, and nourish the soul, and strengthen the character of this country."
"They bring us joy," he said. "They bring us understanding and insight. They bring us comfort in good times and, perhaps especially, in difficult times in our own lives and in the life of our nation."
