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Coretta Scott Book Awards Historical Timeline

The founders of the Awards, 1969–1970. Left to right: Glyndon Greer, Mabel McKissack, and John Carroll. 1969 The Coretta Scott King Book Award was established by Glyndon Flynt Greer, a school librarian in Englewood, NJ; Mabel McKissack, a school librarian in New London, CT; and John Carroll, a book publisher. From the inception, the award was designed to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and honor Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood. 1969 During the first year, four other librarians joined the founders: Harriet B. Brown, New York City Board of Education; Beatrice James, President of the New Jersey Library Association; Roger McDonough, New Jersey State Librarian; and Ella Gaines Yates, Assistant Director, Montclair (NJ) Public Library. 1969–1973 During the early stages of development, the New Jersey Library Association, the Englewood Middle School and the Dwight Morrow High School served as sponsoring organizations of the Award. 1970 The inaugural Coretta Scott King Book Award was presented to Lillian Patterson for her book, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: Man of Peace at the New Jersey Library Association Annual Spring Conference in Atlantic City, NJ. 1970 Since the beginning, the Johnson Publishing Company presented the honorarium for the winning author, ending that relationship in 2010. Basil Phillips, photographs archivist and conference coordinator for the company, played an instrumental role in advocating for this long standing alliance. 1970–1971 The first two awards’ ceremonies were held at the New Jersey Library Association Annual Spring Conference in Atlantic City, NJ. 1972 The very first Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast held at an American Library Association Conference was on June 27, 1972, in Chicago, IL. At this time, the award was not recognized as an official ALA Award. The 7:30 a.m. time slot was chosen as not to conflict with ALA’s scheduled programs. 1972 Glyndon Greer moved to Atlanta, GA. The Award was managed by Mrs. Greer and Minnie Clayton, Archivist of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. 1973 Jean Coleman served as the first director of the then, ALA Office for Services to the Disadvantaged, 1973–1986. She was responsible for convening a group of librarians at the 1981 ALA mid-winter meeting for the purpose of keeping the award alive. She helped to oversee the smooth transition of the award to the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) and was instrumental in establishing it as an official ALA award in 1982. 1973–1976 The Atlanta University School of Library Science and Information Studies became the sponsoring organization. Mrs. Greer served as chair of the award and Dr. Virginia Lacy Jones, Dean of the Library School, served as co-chair. 1974 The first Illustrator Award was presented to George Ford for his illustrations in Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis. Ms. Mathis also won the author award. The first time the author and illustrator award was awarded to the same book. 1974 The Coretta Scott King Book Awards seal was designed by the internationally known Atlanta-based artist Lev Mills.

Glyndon Greer gives a speech at the Coretta Scott King Book Awards breakfast in New York, 1974. 1976–1979 Mrs. Greer used the basement of her home in Atlanta as the awards’ headquarters. It continued to be governed by two groups an awards committee and advisory board. The two groups were composed of librarians from the Atlanta Public Library, the Atlanta University Center Colleges, the Atlanta Public Schools, and persons from the greater Atlanta Community. Ella Gaines Yates, then Director of the Atlanta Public Library, served as co-chair. 1979 A significant change was marked by the Coretta Scott King Awards on its tenth anniversary. At the American Library Association annual conference in Dallas, Texas, the Atlanta-based group and advisory committee merged to form the Task Force. Under the leadership of E.J. Josey, a founding member of SRRT, the award was placed under the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) within the American Library Association. Glyndon Greer served as the first task force chair.

Author Ossie Davis accepts the Coretta Scott King Award for his book Escape to Freedom during the 1979 Annual Conference in Dallas. 1980 The library world was saddened by the death of Glyndon Flynt Greer on August 24, 1980. Mrs. Greer was able to see her dream come true and the Coretta Scott King Book Awards was now a part of the American Library Association conference schedule. 1980 Following the death of Mrs. Greer, Harriet Brown, Supervisor of School Libraries, New York Board of Education, became Chair of the SRRT Coretta Scott King Award Task Force. 1980 Encyclopedia Britannia first donated a set of encyclopedia to the winning author and World Book did the same for the winning illustrator. These companies’ involvement has continued with the addition of the electronic versions of both encyclopedias. 1981 , former Children’s Services Coordinator of the San Francisco Public Library and first African American President of the Public Library Association, assumed leadership as the CSK Award Task Force Chair.

1982 Coretta King Book Awards Breakfast 1982 It was during the leadership of Effie Lee Morris, CSK Award Task Force Chair, and Jean Coleman, first Director of ALA’s Office for Literary and Outreach Services, that the award met ALA criteria and council passed a resolution declaring the Coretta Scott King Book Awards as an official American Library Association Award.

Pat Cummings gives her acceptance speech at the Coretta Scott King Award gala breakfast event at the 1984 Annual Conference in Dallas, TX. Seated from left to right are E. J. Josey, Coretta Scott King, and Effie Lee Morris. 1984 A special highlight of the CSK Book Awards breakfast was the presence of children. The young guests sponsored by publishers and other generous donors came from the geographical area of the ALA annual conference location. Thanks to the winning publishers, each young guest received autographed copies of the award books for their personal collections.

Left: Effie Lee Morris and Coretta Scott King at the 1984 Annual Conference at Dallas.

Coretta Scott King and Clara S. Jones at the celebration for the Coretta Scott King Award at the 1984 Annual Conference in Dallas.

1984 Coretta Scott King made her first appearance at an Awards Presentation at the American Library Association Conference in Dallas, TX.

1985 John F. Carroll, one of the CSK founders, passed away in October 1985. His company, Carroll Publishing, provided the plaques for the winners for five years after the founding of the award. It was Carroll who encouraged the two other founders, Glyndon Greer and Mabel McKissack, to establish the CSK Book Awards and worked with them to develop criteria, name the award and spread the word to publishers. 1989 Dr. Bernice A. King was the guest speaker at the 20th Anniversary Awards Presentation at ALA in Dallas, TX. Mabel McKissack, the only living founder, made a special appearance as well. 1989 Dr. Sybil Moses, Office of Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS) Director, secured a grant from the Carnegie Reading List Award Grant to produce the first full-color brochure promoting the CSK Book Awards, chronologically listing all winners and honors. The brochure was published by ALA and made available for purchase at the ALA store. 1993 The CSK Task Force voted to recognize the works of new authors and illustrators who demonstrated promise. The award was initially named the Genesis Award. 1994 Under the leadership of Carolyn Garnes, CSK Book Award Task Force chair, the 25th Anniversary of the CSK Book Awards was celebrated in Miami, FL, at the ALA conference. Attendees enjoyed a gala reception and autographing party featuring 17 award-winning authors and illustrators. 1994 The first edition ofThe Coretta Scott King Awards Book: From Vision to Reality, edited by Dr. Henrietta Smith, was published by the American Library Association. It presented the history of the award, biographical sketches of winners and honor recipients, annotations of each title, and alluring reproductions of illustrations from award winners from 1974 to 1994. 1995 The first Genesis Award recipient was for her book, Tears of a Tiger. 1998 The Genesis Award was renamed the CSK New Talent Award. 1998 During the tenure of Barbara Jones Clark as CSK Book Award Task Force chair, a national awareness campaign was launched. The campaign was designed to acquaint a wider audience with the role that the Coretta Scott King Book Awards played in showcasing the valuable and informative works of African American authors and Illustrators. The late served as honorary chairperson for that campaign. The first CSK Book Awards DVD was released. 1998 Satia Orange, OLOS Director, moved to produce the seal in a more environmentally friendly format-on black background with character details superimposed in bronze for the winners and pewter for the honor books. The seal for the New Talent Award was detailed in green, a color symbolic of beginnings. This change also enabled the sale of the seals to become more profitable. 1999 With the permission of the Steptoe family, the CSK New Talent Award was officially renamed the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. This award honors the late CSK award- winning illustrator John Steptoe for his contribution to children’s literature by recognizing and encouraging the talent of an African American author or illustrator early in their career. 1999 The second edition of The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: 1970– 1999 was published by ALA and again edited by Dr. Henrietta Smith. This edition covered award winning books from 1970– 1999 with book annotations, author/illustrator biographies and a gallery of artwork from illustrators. 1999 Disney/Jump to the Sun sponsored an essay contest for students who resided in the city of the ALA annual conference. Judges chose the best essays written by elementary and middle school students. The CSK Book Awards Breakfast audience delighted in hearing the winning essays read by the students. 2000 Legends, Folklore and Real Life Stories: The Coretta Scott Award Books was launched as a special exhibit of the illustrations from CSK Award winners at the Art Institute of Chicago until 2001. In addition, educational programs and workshops were conducted by some of the illustrators whose works were on display. 2001 Under the leadership of Carole McCullough as CSK Task Force chair, ALA’s 33rd Annual Coretta Scott King Book Awards presentation was cancelled. Mrs. Coretta Scott King requested the cancellation due to the boycott of union workers at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel, where the awards presentation was scheduled during the ALA Annual Conference on June 19. Mrs. King did not want attendees to cross the picket line. ALA leadership agreed and the 500 ticket holders were reimbursed. 2001 The first CSK Book Awards discussion guide was produced by the awards jury to provide guidance in using the winning books with children. 2004 Under the leadership of leadership of CSK Book Award Task Force chair Fran Ware and past chairs Carole McCullough and Barbara Jones Clark, the CSK Book Award Task Force affiliation was changed from the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) to the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). This move was done with the approval of the Action Council of SRRT. The CSK Book Award Task Force expressed appreciation to SRRT for their twenty-four years of working together. In presenting the rationale for the move, it was stated, “the goals and missions of the CSK Book Award Task Force were more closely aligned with those of EMIERT.” 2004 The winning illustrator’s publisher began the collaboration with the CSK Book Awards Committee to design and produce the annual breakfast program. 2004 The third edition of The Coretta Scott King Awards 1970–2004 was published by ALA and again edited by Dr. Henrietta Smith. This book followed a similar format as the previous books. 2008 Under the leadership of Deborah Taylor as chair of the CSK Book Awards Committee, working with author/editor Andrea Pinkney as honorary chair, a broad base 40th Anniversary Public Awareness Program was launched to widen the visibility of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. The campaign featured a handsome poster by award-winning artist and a celebratory poem by Arnold Adoff. The CSK Book Awards DVD was updated. 2009 The Library community mourned the death of Mabel McKissack, Coretta Scott King Book Awards co-founder, who died 20, 2009. 2009 Sylvia Drew Ivie, daughter of Dr. Charles Drew and presenter of the first CSK Book Award to Lillie Patterson, was a special guest at the 40th Anniversary CSK Book Awards Breakfast. 2009 The fourth edition of The Coretta Scott King Awards 1970–2009 was published by ALA and again edited by Dr. Henrietta Smith. This 40th Anniversary edition follows the similar format of the previous books however it included a subject index. 2009 The winning author’s publisher collaborated to design and produce study guides created by the CSK Book Awards jury, the guides are distributed at the annual awards breakfast and are available on the CSK Book Awards website. 2010 In appreciation and remembrance of the late Virginia Hamilton, the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement was established. Over a two year cycle an author or illustrator and a practitioner in the field will be recognized for their body of work. The first recipient of this award was . Myers was a pioneer of young adult literature. His novels about urban teens and their challenges have won him both a devoted readership and dozens of book awards. 2011 The first practitioner to receive the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement was Dr. Henrietta Smith, Professor Emerita at the University of South Florida, Tampa, School of Library and Information Science. 2012 The 43rd Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast was changed from Tuesday to Sunday on the American Library Association program schedule at the Annual Conference due to changes in conference closing. The first Sunday Breakfast was held on June 24, 2012, in Anaheim, CA. 2012 , storyteller, artist, author, poet and musician, received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. 2013 Demetria Tucker, family and youth services librarian, Pearl Bailey Branch, Newport News (VA) Public Library, received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. 2014 Patricia and Fred McKissack, CSK winning authors received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The McKissacks, a dynamic writing team, began collaborating in the early 1980s and have written more than 100 books about the African American experience and won countless awards. 2014 The fifth and 45th Anniversary edition of theCoretta Scott King Awards: 1970–2014 was published by ALA and edited by Dr. Carole McCullough and Adelaide Phelps. This 45th Anniversary edition follows the format of the previous books. 2014 The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Discussion Guide: Pathways to Democracy was written and edited by Dr. Carole McCullough and Adelaide Phelps. The book spotlights appropriate titles for K–12 and explores core democratic values that enable children to mature into responsible citizens with a dynamic sense of community, history and social responsibility. 2015 Deborah Taylor received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Taylor’s career in public service began more than 40 years ago with the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, where she is currently coordinator of School and Student Services. Her career has been spent as mentor, educator and literacy advocate for Above: Christian Robinson young adults. (2015 Illustrator Honor) at the 2015 Awards Breakfast

Javaka Steptoe, 2017 Illustrator Award Winner, at the 2017 Awards Breakfast 2016 was the recipient of the 2016 Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. An accomplished artist and illustrator, Pinkney constructs books which explore cultural experiences and ethnic identity. His illustrations detail a world that resonates with readers long after the pages of a book have been turned. His five decades of work offer compelling artistic insights into the legacy of African American storytelling and experience. 2017 Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita, State University, received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Dr. Bishop’s influential writing, speaking, and teaching articulate the history and cultural significance of African-American children’s literature. Her globally cited work, “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors,” has inspired movements for increased diversity in books for young people, and provides the basis for the best multicultural practice and inquiry for students, teachers, writers and publishing houses.

2018 Awards Breakfast. Clockwise from top left: Renée Watson, 2018 Author Award Winner for Piecing Me Together; , 2018 Author Honor; Jason Reynolds and , 2018 Author Honors; David Barclay Moore, 2018 John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Author); Ekua Holmes, 2018 Illustrator Award Winner for Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets; Eloise Greenfield, 2018 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Winner. 2018 Eloise Greenfield was the recipient of the 2018 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Eloise Greenfield is a trailblazer whose extraordinary books of poetry and prose have influenced many and continue to resonate with children today. Her rich body of work inspires and enriches readers. 2018 The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) debuted a traveling exhibition, “Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards”, featuring the works of CSK award/honor-winning artists on February 10, 2018 at its Abilene, TX gallery. Dr. Claudette McLinn, chair of the CSK Book Awards Committee, was an honored guest and later conducted a workshop on the CSK Book Awards. This prestigious exhibit is scheduled to travel at several locations including the Carle Museum through 2020. https://www.nccil.org 2019 Under the leadership of Dr. Claudette McLinn, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee celebrated the 50th Anniversary with a Gala at the and the annual Awards Breakfast at the American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC. Andrea Davis Pinkney served as honorary chair of the 50th Anniversary celebration. 2019 The sixth and 50th Anniversary edition of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards was published by ALA Editions and edited by Dr. Carole McCullough and Adelaide Phelps.

References

ALA. SRRT. Coretta Scott King Task Force meeting minutes and task force chairs’ correspondence, 1983-1997.

McCollough, Carole and Adelaide Phelps, (Eds.) The Coretta Scott King Awards: 1970–2014. Chicago/ American Library Association

Smith, Henrietta, (Ed.) The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: 1970– 2009. Chicago/ American Library Association, 2009

Smith, Henrietta, (Ed.) The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: 1970– 2004. Chicago/ American Library Association, 2004

Smith, Henrietta, (Ed.) The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: 1970– 1999. Chicago/ American Library Association, 1999

Smith, Henrietta, and (Ed.) The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: From Vision to Reality. Chicago/ American Library Association, 1994

The CSK community members may add to the CSK timeline with supporting sources and references. Send to: [email protected].

Compiled by Carolyn Garnes, Marketing Committee Chair & Past CSK Task Force Chair 1993–1997, January 11, 2019

Produced by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the American Library Association’s Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table.

Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table