The
7th
Annual
Ellis Island Family
Heritage Awards, given annually to a
select number of Port
of
New York and Ellis
Island immigrants or their descendants,
were presented by
Lee A. Iacocca, Founding Chairman of the
Foundation, in an 11:00 a.m. ceremony hosted by
Lynn Sherr
of ABC News at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.
The 2008 honorees
were:
LITERATURE
- Mary Higgins Clark –
The Bronx-born best selling suspense
writer has sold over 85 million books in the U.S.
alone and credits her Irish heritage for her
storytelling talent. Mrs. Higgins Clark’s newest
novel is “Where Are You Now?”. Her father came from Ireland
in 1906.
BUSINESS
- The Forbes Family –
“Forbes,” the oldest of the nation’s
major business magazines, was founded in 1917 by
Scottish immigrant B.C. Forbes, who first arrived in America in 1904. B.C.’s descendants
continue to manage Forbes Media Inc., a privately
held company which publishes “Forbes” in eight
foreign languages, reaching five million readers
worldwide.
EDUCATION
- Donna E. Shalala –
President, University of Miami, Dr. Shalala has more than 25 years
of experience as an accomplished scholar, teacher
and administrator. Under President Clinton, she
served eight years as U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services, becoming the longest serving HHS
Secretary in U.S. history. Her paternal grandfather
came from Lebanon in 1900.
ENTERTAINMENT
- Mel Brooks –
Director, producer, writer and actor, Mel
Brooks has created many comedy film classics as well
as the popular television show “Get Smart.” His
latest project is “The New Mel Brooks Musical Young
Frankenstein” currently playing on Broadway. His
father emigrated from
Austria as
a child in 1896.
In
presenting the awards, Lee A. Iacocca said, “Each
and every one of these honorees—these sons and
daughters of
Ellis Island—represents what I admire most
about Americans: the drive to succeed, even in the
face of adversity, the leadership
and creativity to forge their way.”
The Ellis
Island honorees received a framed copy of the
original ship’s passenger manifest documenting the
arrival of their family in
America, obtained from the
database of the
American Family Immigration History Center®
at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and online at
www.ellisisland.org. The database contains the
arrival records of the more than 25 million people
who entered through the Port of New York and Ellis
Island from 1892-1924. Forty percent of Americans
have family immigration records in this database.
For more
information, visit
www.ellisisland.org.
About
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
is a non-profit organization founded in 1982 to
raise funds for and oversee the historic
restorations of the Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island, working in partnership
with the National Park Service/U.S. Department of
the Interior. In addition to restoring the
monuments, the Foundation created a museum in the
Statue’s base and the world-class Ellis Island Immigration Museum, The American Immigrant Wall of
Honor® and the American Family Immigration History
Center®. Its endowment has funded over
200 projects at the islands.