| 1972 | Aubrey M. Daniels III, for his courageous statement to President Nixon that the workings of American jurisprudence cannot be subverted to political purposes, that the "United States must be a government of laws, not men." |
| 1973 | Peter H. Bridge and Earl Caldwell were joint recipients for their courageous stand of facing, and in the case of Peter Bridge, going to jail rather than reveal their source of information for newspaper stories. |
| 1974 | Henry Durham, for blowing the whistle on the boondoggling of large companies on Government money and calling attention to the defects of the C5 Lockheed plane that subsequently crashedin Vietnam with numerous orphans on board. |
| 1975 | Jerrold terHorst, for resigning his post at White House Secretary to President Gerald B. Ford when he learned from outside sources that the President intended to pardon Richard Nixon. |
| 1976 | Joan Claybrook, for her spirited advocacy in the pursuit of social justice and her courage inconfronting vested economic and political interests. |
| 1977 | Dr. Luis Reque, co-founder and executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, received the Award in recognition of the extreme activism with which he fought for human rights in the turbulent countries of Brazil, Cuba, and Chile. |
| 1978 | Father Bruce Ritter, who created a shelter for thousands of homeless teenagers in the Times Square area of New York City. |
| 1979 | Karen Silkwood was granted the Award posthumously. Her life was tragically cut off when she attempted to blow the whistle on safety hazards in a nuclear facility. |
| 1980 | Michael Pertschuk, the then Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, in honor of his work in the regulation of businesses to the benefit of the ordinary consumer. |
| 1981 | Robert C. Eckhardt, U.S. Congressman from 1966 to 1980, received the Award for his civic courage as defender of the United States Constitution and protector of the well being of the common people and his resistance to the pressures of powerful special interest groups. |
| 1982 | Eugene Babb and Stephen Joseph, MD, for their courage and integrity in resigning their positions with the United States Agency for International Development when the United States cast the only vote against the resolution to stop marketing infant formula in the Third World Countries at the United Nations World Health Assembly in Geneva in May, 1981. |
| 1983 | Joann Bell in recognition of her firm stand supporting the separation of church and state despite extreme persecution she suffered as a result of her actions. |
| 1984 | Professor Robert E. White, for his strength and courage in demanding that the United States should insist on the improvement of human rights in El Salvador before giving that country any money or aid. Because of his action, he was recalled as Ambassador. |
| 1985 | Mary Sinclair, in recognition of her 15-year opposition to the construction of a nuclear electrical plant in Midland, Michigan by the Consumers Power Company. She persisted in her efforts despite personal attacks on her, harassment of her children, her husband's loss of clients in his law practice, and bomb threats. In July 1984, Mrs. Sinclair emerged as the victor when the Consumers Power Company abandoned the project. |
| 1986 | Dr. Helen Caldicott, for her sustained and outstanding effort, pursued in the face of opposition, to raise human consciousness to the threat of nuclear war. Her campaign to stop the arms race included the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament, and the authorship of Missile Envy (1984) and Nuclear Madness (1978). |
| 1987 | Dr. Matthew Ies Spetter, for unwavering devotion to ethical principles, both before and during his thirty-five years of Leadership in the Ethical Culture Movement. For his efforts locally, nationally, and internationally to help heal and rescue the human spirit, and for his courage during the time he was in the Dutch underground during World War lI. |
| 1988 | Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan, U.S. journalists, investigated the attempted assassination of dissident contra leader Eden Pastora at La Penca, Nicaragua. They have been the target of death threats, have had to send their children to safety in the U.S. (they were based in Costa Rica). Their investigation resulted in the Christic Institute's civil lawsuit against the private network behind the Iran/Contra scandal. |
| 1989 | Ginny Durrin, a Washington, DC filmmaker who documents the urgent issues confronting the nation today: the plight of the homeless; AIDS; teenage drunk driving; and workers' rights. |
| 1991 | Derrick A. Bell, for outstanding devotion to ethical principles and for his compassion and courageous example, costly in mental, monetary, and career commitment, in choosing an unpaid leave to protest the failure of Harvard Law to appoint a black female professor to its tenured faculty. |
| 1993 | Dr. Margot O'Toole, for moral courage and steadfastness in upholding honesty and integrity in raising valid questions -- at great personal sacrifice-- in her scientific community regarding research that needed to be reevaluated. She is honored for her determination in the face of great opposition in her search for truth in scientific research and in her everyday life. |
| 1995 | Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, for her demonstrated courage and leadership addressing sensitive public health issues; for advocating the right of young people to share knowledge and communicate openly and for outstanding devotion to ethical principles. |
| 1997 | Judge Abner J. Mikva, for outstanding devotion to ethical principles and lifelong commitment and advocacy on behalf of the poor, the disadvantaged and the oppressed as a lawyer, congressman, judge, and legal counsel to the President of the United States. |
| 1999 | Daryl Davis, for displaying extraordinary moral courage in combating racism, for teaching, through his actions and writing, the importance of reaching out to those who disagree with us, and for advancing the cause of racial equality. |
| 2000 | The Innocence Project, a clinical law program for students at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, which provides pro bono legal assistance to inmates who are challenging their convictions on the basis of DNA testing of evidence. Founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck, Professor of Law, and Peter J. Neufeld, Esq., the Innocence Project has represented or assisted in some 40 cases where convictions have been reversed or overturned. |
| 2001 | John M. Swomley, who for over 60 years has been a world class peace and justice activist, humanist, respected speaker and prolific writer. His thoroughly researched analysis is well known to the readers of the Humanist and The Human Quest magazines and his monthly Facts for Action. He is a nationally recognized leader on the issues of Separation of Church and State, and Freedom of Religion. |
| 2003 | Sam Daly-Harris, president and co-founder of RESULTS Educational Fund, which is dedicated to strategies for ending world hunger. He is the author of Reclaiming our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government, about which President Carter said "(Daley-Harris) provides a road map for global involvement in planning a better future." |
| 2005 | Franklin Kameny, Ph.D., a leader in the gay rights movement since the 1950s. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Kameny organized the first gay demonstration in front of the White House in 1965 and successfully lobbied to get the ACLU to support the effort to end antigay discrimination in federal employment. |
| 2006 | Kathy Kelly, a teacher, activist for peace, and war tax refuser, Ms. Kelly has risked fines and jail for nonviolent protests in Haiti, Bosnia, Iraq, and Palestine as well as in this country. She helped initiate the Voices in the Wilderness campaign to end UN/US sanctions against Iraq, and helps coordinate the Voices for Creative Nonviolence campaign. In 2005 she published "Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison" -- where she served three months in 2004 for attempting to close a military training school in Ft. Benning, GA. |
For further information contact:
American Ethical Union
2 West 64 Street, New York, NY 10023
tel: 212-873-6500
fax: 212-362-0850
E-mail: AEUOffice@aeu.org