Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Launches First-Ever Presidential Awards 8/22/2002
From: Anne Christiansen of the Smithsonian Institution, 202-275-1764 News Advisory: WHAT: The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery will announce the first two winners for the Paul Peck Presidential Awards, the only award of its kind to honor individual achievement related to the presidency. The Peck Presidential Awards will be presented annually in two categories -- Service to a President and Portrayal of a President. WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 27 10 a.m. WHERE: Old Executive Office Building Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street WHO: -- Marc Pachter, director of the National Portrait Gallery -- Paul Peck, National Portrait Gallery donor Please note: Members of the media must bring their White House press credentials or provide full name, birth date and social security number for security clearance to the Old Executive Office Building. To attend, call: -- Anne Christiansen, National Portrait Gallery, 202-275-1764 -- Linda St.Thomas, Smithsonian Office of Public Affairs, 202-357-2627, ext.108 Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush are honorary chairs of the committee that selected the winners, and members of the 2002 committee include Sen. Robert Dole, former Senate majority leader and vice president in the Ford administration; David Gergen, chair of the committee, and a former member of the Reagan and Clinton administrations; Leon Panetta, former congressman and chief of staff in the Clinton administration; Robert Samuelson, nationally syndicated economic columnist; Robert Remini, historian and noted biographer of Andrew Jackson; Roger Wilkins, civil rights leader and professor at George Mason University in Virginia; and Cokie Roberts, co-anchor of "This Week" on ABC. The National Portrait Gallery is one of the premier resources on the presidency in the United States. For 34 years, the Portrait Gallery has explored and celebrated the presidency in public programs, research, exhibitions and publications, while amassing a collection of more than 1,200 presidential likenesses. |