During the 106th Annual Meeting and Virtual Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) held from September 14-30, 2021, AAAS Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr received the ASALH's Inaugural Luminary Award in a special plenary titled “Illuminating the Black Family in History: A Retrospective on Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”
ASALH was founded in 1915 by Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History and the second African American to receive the PhD from Harvard in History in 1912. Each year ASALH, the Founders of Black History Month, announce the Black History Theme for Black History Month and the entire year. The theme for 2021 is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity.” Professor Gates' many years of work on the family through his writings, documentaries, and PBS series “Finding Your Roots” made him the perfect recipient for this inaugural award.
You can view the moving tribute to Professor Gates, which includes AAAS Professor Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, ASALH's national president, and musician John Legend and actor Epatha Merkerson from “Law and Order” on ASALH's YouTube Page.