Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a noted scholar, author and award winning filmmaker. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Mr. Gates has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees. His books, And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK, and Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow, are part of the Upton Bell Collection at UMass Lowell Librariesin O'Leary Library, 2nd Floor Special Collections and include personal inscriptions from the author.
Click on the image for a larger view.
Awards
Gold Winner, 2015 W3 Awards—for Oxford African American Study Center’s Interactive Web Timeline, “Underground Railroad: The Journey to Freedom” (2015)
Ellis Island Family Heritage Award, bestowed by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. (2015)
PROSE Award Honorable Mention in Art History & Criticism—for The Image of the Black in Western Art, with David Bindman
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award—for “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” (2015)
Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program—Long Form for “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” (2014)
Peabody Award for “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” (2014)
NAACP Image Award: Outstanding News/Information – (Series or Special), “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,” 2014.
Ebony Power 100 List, 2013
AARP 50 Influential People Over 50 List
Ebony Power 100 List, 2012
Public Interest Law Association, City University of New York, 2012
Walter Channing Cabot Fellow, Harvard University, 2011
2011 Media Bridge-Builder Award, Tanenbaum Center, 2011
Ebony Magazine, Power 100 List, 2010
Favorite Professor, Class of 2011, Harvard Yearbook Publications, Inc., 2010
American Vision Award, Children’s Book Press, 2010
2010 McDonald’s 365 Black Award, 2010
Lifetime Achievement Award in Genealogy and Genetics, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2010
NAACP Image Award: Literary Work, Non-Fiction, for In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, 2010
Outstanding Contribution to Publishing, Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award, for In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, 2010
World’s Best Work Award for “Looking for Lincoln,” New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards, 2010
25 Most Influential African Americans Outside the White House, Black Enterprise Magazine, 2010
Best National Outreach Campaign for “Looking for Lincoln,” National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), 2010
Distinguished West Virginian Award, The HistoryMakers, 2010
Ebony Magazine, “Power 150” List, 2009
2009 Empire State Archives and History Award and Class of Stewards of the Archives Partnership Trust, 2009
Morry Award, Project Morry, November 2009
History Makers Award, New York State Archives Partnership Trust, 2009
The Madison Freedom Award, 2009
Concerned Black Men Award of Merit, August 2009
The Leon H. Sullivan Honors Award, August 2009
CNN “Black in America 2” Hero Recognition, July 2009
2008 Ralph Lowell Award, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Spring 2009
Parents’ Choice Awards, Gold Award in Television, for “African American Lives 2,” Spring 2009
Booklist, “Top of the List,” Best Reference Source for African American National Biography, 2009
Sarah Josepha Hale Award, Trustees of the Richards Free Library, Newport, NH, 2009
Frank E. Taplin, Jr. Public Intellectual Award, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 2009
The Gondobay Manga Foundation Sankofa Award, 2009
Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) Award, 2008
Gordon Parks Foundation Award (first recipient), 2007
Wired Rave Award, 2007
National Arts Club, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007
“Let’s Do It Better” Workshop Award, Columbia University School of Journalism, for “African American Lives,” 2007
Cultures of Peace Award, City of the Cultures of Peace, Berlin, 2007
Certificate for Creative Excellence, for “African American Lives,” Episode 4, “Beyond the Middle Passage,” 2007
Jay B. Hubbell Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literary Studies, MLA, 2006
Cine Golden Eagle Award, for “African American Lives,” 2006
Bestermann/McColvin Award for Outstanding Work of Reference Published in the UK, Oxford African American Studies Center, 2006
PBS Channel Thirteen Annual Award, 2006
“Graduate of Distinction,” Education Alliance of West Virginia, 2006
The Tribune Society, Inc., New York, 2006
Ebony Magazine, “100 Most Influential Black Americans,” 2005
Carl Sandburg Literary Award, Chicago, 2004
William C. Nell Living Legend Award, Afro-American Museum, Boston, 2004
Henry James Award, The Edith Wharton Society, 2004
Josiah Willard Gibbs Award, Amistad Foundation, 2002
Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2002
“Healthy Lifestyle Award,” Roxbury Comprehensive, 2001
Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service, Columbia University, 2000
Outstanding Literary Work, Non-fiction, The 31st NAACP Image Award, for
“Wonders of the African World,” 2000
Honorary Council Member, City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, for
“Wonders of the African World,” 2000
Multiculturalism Award, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1999
American Academy of Arts & Letters, 1999
National Humanities Medal, 1998
“Hero Among Us,” Boston Celtics, 1998
The PASS Award, 1997
Time Magazine, “25 Most Influential Americans,” 1997
National Magazine Award (Finalist 2 categories), 1997
Roger Joseph Prize, Hebrew Union College, 1997
New England Award for Editorial Excellence, 1997
Distinguished Editorial Achievement, Critical Inquiry, 1996
The Richard Ellman Lectures, Emory University, 1996
Tikkun National Ethics Award, 1996
1995 Humanities Award, West Virginia Humanities Council
Golden Plate Achievement Award, 1995
W.D. Weatherford Award, Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association, 1995
West Virginian of the Year, 1995
Lillian Smith Book Award, Southern Regional Council and the University of Georgia Libraries, 1994
Chicago Tribune Heartland Award, 1994
Norman Rabb Award, American Jewish Committee, 1994
Best New Journal in the Social Sciences, Association of American Publishers, Transition Magazine, 1993
George Polk Award for Social Commentary, 1993
African American Students Faculty Award, 1993
Golden Plate Achievement Award, 1993
Potomac State College Alumni Award, 1991
American Book Award, 1989
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Race Relations, 1989
Candle Award, Morehouse College, 1989
John Hope Franklin Prize (Honorable Mention), American Studies Association, 1988
Zora Neale Hurston Society Award for Cultural Scholarship, 1986
Yale Afro-American Cultural Center Faculty Prize, 1983
MacArthur Fellowship, 1981-1986
And Still I Rise by 
Stony the Road by On November 21, 2016, at the Brookings Institution, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Charlayne Hunter-Gault led a panel discussion on issues raised in And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK.
Commentary