Sam Ragan Awards

The Sam Ragan Awards are an annual fine arts award presented by St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

The Sam Ragan Award was created in 1981 to honor Samuel Talmadge Ragan, North Carolina's first Secretary of Cultural resources. It is presented annually to one or more persons for outstanding contributions to the Fine Arts of North Carolina over an extended period--including, but above and beyond--the recipient's own primary commitment.

Mr. Ragan received the North Carolina Award, the State's highest honor, as well as the Morrison and Parker Awards and the DAR Medal of Honor. He received honorary doctoral degrees from St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Methodist College.

For 20 years he edited the News & Observer in Raleigh. He was then owner and editor of The Pilot in Southern Pines until his death in 1996. He authored six award-winning volumes of poetry and a number of works of nonfiction.

Sam Ragan Fine Arts Award Winners

1981
Sara Hodgkins, Southern Pines, NC

1982
Harriet Doar, Charlotte, NC
John Fries Blair, Winston-Salem, NC

1983
Nicholas Bragg, Winston-Salem, NC
Roy Parker, Fayetteville, NC

1984
Mae Woods Bell, Rocky Mount, NC
Frank Borden Hanes, Winston-Salem, NC

1985
Charleen Swansea, Chapel Hill, NC
Ella Fountain Pratt, Durham, NC

1986
Sallie Nixon, Lincolnton, NC
James L. Morgan, Laurel Hill, NC

1987
Robert Mason, Southern Pines, NC
A.P. Perkinson, Pinehurst, NC

1988
Paul Jeffery, Durham, NC

1989
Shelby Stephenson, Southern Pines, NC
Stephen Smith, Southern Pines, NC

1990
William Little, Chapel Hill, NC
Kate Blackburn, Washington, DC

1991
Gerald Barrax, Raleigh, NC
Marsha Warren, Chapel Hill, NC

1992
Clyde Edgerton, Durham, NC
Marvin Swartzman, Chapel Hill, NC

1993
Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, Durham, NC
Marty Silverthorne, Greenville, NC
Sally Buckner, Raleigh, NC

1994
Marie Gilbert, Greensboro, NC
Kathry B. Gurkin, Clinton, NC
Thomas F. Henley, New York & Laurinburg, NC

1995
Joseph Bathanti, Statesville, NC
Nancy Bradberry, Southern Pines, NC
Glen Rounds, Southern Pines, NC

1996
Anthony Abbott, Davidson, NC
Ruth Moose, Albemarle, NC
Talmadge Moose, Albemarle, NC

1997
Jerry Bledsoe, Asheboro, NC
David Brinkley, Washington, DC
Ellen Johnson-Hale, Chapel Hill, NC
Susan Rose, Durham, NC

1998
Betty Adcock, Raleigh, NC
Irwin Kremen, Durham, NC
Tom Wicker, Rochester, VT

1999
Georgann Eubanks, Chapel Hill, NC
Jacques Maloubier, Southern Pines, NC
Loonis McGlohon, Charlotte, NC

2000
Scott Ainslie, Durham, NC
Daniel Nie, Washington, DC
Louis Rubin, Chapel Hill, NC

2001
Daniel Infantino, Southern Pines, NC
Dannye Romine Powell, Charlotte, NC
H.A. Sieber, Greensboro, NC

2002
Fred Chappell, Greensboro, NC
Jack Pinkerton, Fayetteville, NC
James L. Morgan, Jr., Laurinburg, NC

2003
Edward R. Gomez, New York City, NY

2004
The Rt. Rev. John S. Spong, Morris Plains, NJ

2005
Chuck Sullivan, Charlotte, NC

2006
Jan Hensley, Greensboro, NC
Lenard Moore, Mt. Olive, NC
Margaret Vardell Sandrewsky, Winston-Salem, NC

2007
Robert Grant, Charleston, SC
Jaki Shelton Green, Mebane, NC
Sondra Martin, Fayetteville, NC

2008
Charles Blackburn, Jr., Raleigh, NC
Barbara Geer
Thomas Sayre, Raleigh, NC

2009
Thomas Heffernan
Lois Holt
Martha Blue Hooks
Sally Ann Morris

2010
Mary Louise Bringle
Arthur McDonald
David Rigsbee