Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights

The Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights was established in 1998 by the President of the United States Bill Clinton, honoring outstanding American promoters of rights in the United States.

The award was first awarded on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, honoring Eleanor Roosevelt's role as the "driving force" in the development of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The award was presented from 1998 to the end of the Clinton Administration in 2001. In 2005 the American Rights at Work organization, issued the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award.

Recipients of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights

1998

• Robert L. Bernstein, founder of the Fund for Free Expression as well as Human Rights Watch and retired chairman of Random House
• Representative John Lewis, life-long civil rights leader
• Bette Bao Lord, human rights activist, China scholar and novelist.
• Dorothy Q. Thomas, women's rights activist responsible for groundbreaking research and advocacy on human rights violations against women around the world.
• Dolores Huerta, co-founder and leader United Farm Workers of America and lifelong labor activist.

1999

• Charlotte Bunch, an international women's rights activist, instrumental in securing the inclusion of gender and sexual orientation on the global human rights agenda.
• Burke Marshall, for his lifelong commitment to civil rights, including his service as Assistant Attorney General in the Kennedy Administration.
• Sister Jean Marshall, a Dominican nun who founded St. Rita's Immigrant and Refugee Center in the Bronx, in service to victimized immigrants.
• Rev. Leon Sullivan, anti-apartheid activist and author of "Global Sullivan Principles" promoting corporate social responsibility worldwide.

2000

• Tillie Black Bear, a strong voice for Native American and women's rights and a leading advocate for victims of domestic violence.
• Frederick Charles Cuny, a lifetime of service to the civilian victims of conflict and disaster.
• Norman Dorsen, former President of the American Civil Liberties Union and Chairman of the Board of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
• Elaine R. Jones, promoted groundbreaking civil rights legislation and widened the circle of opportunity for all Americans.
• Most Reverend Theodore Edgar McCarrick, lifelong human rights advocate.

2001

• Congressman Frank Wolf, worked tirelessly for the passage of landmark human rights legislation, including the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and legislation on trafficking in persons.
• John Kamm, for working to engage the Chinese Government in a results-oriented dialogue on human rights
• Barbara Elliott, for starting a private initiative to provide people with basic needs and help them through the transition following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

2005

• Ossie Davis
• Catholic Healthcare West
• Harley-Davidson Motor Company
• Student Labor Week of Action

2006

• Cingular Wireless
• Danny Glover
• Tom Morello
• Studs Terkel
• Walden Asset Management

2007

• Greg Mathis
• Human Rights Watch
• Kaiser Permanente

2008

• Gamesa Technology Corporation USA
• Kathleen Sebelius
• The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

2010

• Professor Louis Henkin (posthumus), a leader in fostering the study of human rights law
• Alice Hartman Henkin - former director of the Justice and Society Program at the Aspen Institute and leader in shaping U.S. human rights, international law, and peacekeeping policies
• Wade Henderson - president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; longtime civil rights and human rights activist
• Sarah Cleto Rial - program director for My Sister's Keeper, an NGO working to advance political, social, and economic justic for women and girls in Sudan

References

• Clinton, W. Memorandum for the Secretary of State, December 9, 1998
• Fact sheet: human rights day December 10 & Eleanor Roosevelt Award, December 10, 1998
• Fact Sheet: Human Rights Day 1999, Eleanor Roosevelt Award , December 6, 1999
• Fact Sheet: Human Rights Day: The Eleanor Roosevelt Award, December 6, 2000
• Presentation of Eleanor Roosevelt Award, December 13, 2001
• Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards