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3 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING <br /> PROFESSOR WILLIAM (BILL) R. FERRIS <br /> WHEREAS, William (Bill) R. Ferris is the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of <br /> History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and <br /> WHEREAS, Professor Ferris is a former chairman of the National Endowment for the <br /> Humanities (1997-2001), and has written or edited ten books and created 15 <br /> documentary films; and <br /> WHEREAS, his work has included co-editing the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture <br /> (1989), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; and <br /> WHEREAS, Professor Ferris' books include Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the <br /> Mississippi Blues (2009) which was translated into French as Les Voix du Mississippi <br /> (2013); The Storied South: Voices of Writers and Artists, and The South in Color: A <br /> Visual Journal (2016); and <br /> WHEREAS, Professor Ferris' most recent publication, Voices of Mississippi received <br /> two Grammy Awards in 2019 for Best Liner Notes and Best Historical Album; and <br /> WHEREAS, Professor Ferris has been recognized with numerous honors, including the <br /> Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities, the American Library Association's Dartmouth <br /> Medal, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award, the W.C. Handy Blues Award, <br /> the B. L. C. Wailes Award, which is given to a Mississippian who has achieved national <br /> recognition in the field of history by the Mississippi Historical Society, and the 2017 <br /> Mississippi Governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement; and <br /> WHEREAS, the William R. Ferris Collection is located in the Southern Folklife <br /> Collection of the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; <br /> NOW THEREFORE we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby <br /> recognize Professor William (Bill) R. Ferris for his contributions to the local and <br /> worldwide arts and history community. <br /> This the 21 S` day of May 2019. <br /> Penny Rich, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />