Government and Heritage Library, 2021
See also: History of the North Carolina Awards; North Carolina Awards; North Carolina Awards ceremony programs (NC Digital Collections)
The North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor, was established by the General Assembly in 1961 and the first award-winners were honored in 1964. Artist Romare Bearden was the first African American to receive the award in 1976.
As of 2021, 314 North Carolinians have honored as recipients of the North Carolina Award, 34 of whom have been Black or African American.
Alphabetical List of Black and African American Medal Winners
| Angelou, Maya. Literature, 1987 Baker, Etta. Fine Arts, 2003 Barber, William J., II, Rev. Dr. Public Service, 2019 Barrax, Gerald W. Literature, 2009 Bayes, Ronald. Literature, 1989 Bearden, Romare. Fine Arts, 1976 Biggers, John. Fine Arts, 1995 Brown, Robert J. Public Service, 2016 Burke, Selma. Fine Arts, 1982 Chambers, Julius L. Public Service, 2002 Corbett, Dr. Kizzmekia S. Science, 2020 Davis, Charles (Chuck). Fine Arts, 1992 Donaldson, Lou. Fine Arts, 2012 Fletcher, William. Science, 2000 Flood, Dr. Dudley E. Public Service, 2021 Franklin, John Hope. Literature, 1993 Freelon, Philip G. Fine Arts, 2017 |
Frye, Henry. Public Service, 2007 Green, Jaki Shelton. Literature, 2003 Kenan, Randall. Literature, 2005 Koontz, Elizabeth Duncan. Public Service, 1977 Lee, Howard N. Public Service, 2015 Lucas, John Harding. Public Service, 2013 Lynch, Loretta. Public Service, 2017 Marsalis, Branford. Fine Arts, 2011 Mitchiner, Reginald. Science, 1977 Moore, Lenard D. Literature, 2014 Rivera Jr., Alexander M. Fine Arts, 2008 Spaulding, Maria F. Public Service, 2021 Talley, André Leon. Literature, 2021 Taylor, Billy. Fine Arts, 1993 Walker, LeRoy T. Public Service, 2004 Weatherford, Carole Boston. Literature, 2010 Williams, William T. Fine Arts, 2006 |
Biographical essays are available for each North Carolina Award recipient in the ceremony program for that year. Ceremony programs are accessible online here in the North Carolina Digital Collections.