HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRO-2019-013 Proclamation recognizing Professor William Ferris ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING
PROFESSOR WILLIAM ( BILL ) R . FERRIS
WHEREAS , William ( Bill ) R . Ferris is the Joel R . Williamson Eminent Professor of
History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ; and
WHEREAS , Professor Ferris is a former chairman of the National Endowment for the
Humanities ( 1997 - 2001 ) , and has written or edited ten books and created 15
documentary films ; and
WHEREAS , his work has included co - editing the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
( 1989 ) , which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize ; and
WHEREAS , Professor Ferris ' books include Give My Poor Heart Ease : Voices of the
Mississippi Blues ( 2009 ) which was translated into French as Les Voix du Mississippi
( 2013 ) ; The Storied South : Voices of Writers and Artists , and The South in Color : A
Visual Journal ( 2016 ) ; and
WHEREAS , Professor Ferris ' most recent publication , Voices of Mississippi received
two Grammy Awards in 2019 for Best Liner Notes and Best Historical Album ; and
WHEREAS , Professor Ferris has been recognized with numerous honors , including the
Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities , the American Library Association ' s Dartmouth
Medal , the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award , the W . C . Handy Blues Award ,
the B . L . C . Wailes Award , which is given to a Mississippian who has achieved national
recognition in the field of history by the Mississippi Historical Society , and the 2017
Mississippi Governor ' s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement ; and
WHEREAS , the William R . Ferris Collection is located in the Southern Folklife
Collection of the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ;
NOW THEREFORE we , the Orange County Board of Commissioners , do hereby
recognize Professor William ( Bill ) R . Ferris for his contributions to the local and
worldwide arts and history community .
This the 21St day of May 2019 .
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17 `sue c y_ � 2 Penny Rich , Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners