Eleanor Holmes Norton
Distinction in Civic Leadership
The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. is proud to announce that Eleanor Holmes Norton will receive a Making D.C. History Award for Distinction in Civic Leadership at the Making D.C. History Awards on Thursday, September 28, 2017.
Over the past five years, the Historical Society has honored twenty-two Washingtonians and D.C.-based organizations whose enduring contributions to our community have helped create, define, and keep our city’s heritage.
On Thursday, September 28, 2017, the Historical Society welcomes five more history makers to the growing list of distinguished honorees, recognized for their contributions to the fabric of life in Washington, D.C.
About Eleanor Holmes Norton
Eleanor Holmes Norton has represented the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991, but she’s been fighting for justice for nearly six decades. An early organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, she later served as assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing 60 female employees of Newsweek in a successful gender discrimination lawsuit. That battle was recently chronicled in the Amazon Prime series, “Good Girls Revolt.” In 1977 she became the first woman to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, appointed by President Jimmy Carter. In Congress, despite the lack of a vote, Norton has won significant victories for the people of the District of Columbia: financial assistance for all D.C. high school graduates to attend any public U.S. college or university and many private colleges and universities; a unique D.C. homebuyer tax credit; D.C. business tax incentives, including a significant wage credit for employing D.C. residents; development of the 55 acre-Southeast Federal Center, the first private development on federal land; relocation of 6,000 jobs to the Washington Navy Yard; and location in the District of the new headquarters for the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, along with an additional Metro station to serve it at New York Avenue. In the 1990s Norton helped end the city’s serious financial crisis via the restructuring of the financial relationship between Congress and the District.
For her untiring devotion to the rights of the citizens of the District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton is the 2017 recipient of the Making D.C. History Award for Distinction in Civic Leadership.
About the Making D.C. History Awards
The Making D.C. History Awards is an annual event that supports the mission of the Historical Society and honors it as one of the city’s most important locally focused cultural institutions.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Presented at the Knight Conference Center of the Newseum.
Honoree Reception
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Champagne and hors d’oeuvres with complimentary valet parking
Awards Presentation
7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Seated dinner and awards ceremony hosted by Wendy Rieger, NBC4 News
Honoree Celebration
9:00 – 10:30 p.m.
Open bar & entertainment
Other Making D.C. History Award recipients include:
- Di and Lou Stovall
Distinction in Artistic Achievement
- José Andrés
Distinction in Corporate Achievement
- Douglas Development
Distinction in Historic Preservation
- The Ruppert Family
Legacy Families of Washington, D.C.