Humanities Nebraska (HN) has selected UNL Emeriti Professor Katherine L. Walter to receive the 2022 Sower Award in the Humanities.
For many years, Walter chaired UNL’s Digital Initiatives & Special Collections Department and was a founding director of the nationally-renowned Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. Her work established Nebraska as a leader in digital humanities while enriching the humanities throughout the state. Walter was a board member of HN’s Council from 2013-2019, serving as Council chair in 2016 and 2017. She also has chaired the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association, and was appointed to the Nebraska State Historical Records Board by Governors Mike Johanns and Dave Heineman.
“Kay’s profound impact on the humanities in Nebraska has literally transformed the field, touched the lives of generations of students, teachers, and librarians, and reached tens of thousands of Nebraskans across the state,” said nominator and University of Nebraska historian William G. Thomas.
Among Walter’s many national grants was the transformative Nebraska Digital Newspaper Project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which resulted in preservation and digitization of community newspapers from across Nebraska. Through Nebraska Newspapers, Nebraskans have free online access to more than 650,000 pages of historic Nebraska newspapers.
Walter will be honored on September 28, 2022, at the benefit dinner immediately preceding the 27th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, which will be delivered by New York Times bestselling author Candice Millard. “A Clear and Steady Eye: Storytelling and Our Shared History” is a free public event beginning at 7:30 p.m. with a live-stream viewing option. The preceding benefit dinner will help raise funds to support HN’s statewide programming.
Kicking off the E.N. Thompson Forum’s 2022 series titled “Creativity to Solve Global Challenges,” the Governor’s Lecture is presented by Humanities Nebraska with co-sponsors the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues, and the University of Nebraska. Please visit the HN website to stay up to date on details on the Governor’s Lecture, sponsorships, dinner tickets, and Sower Award presentation.