One of New York City’s most hallowed concert venues is naming an award after late entertainment legend and civil rights activist Lena Horne.
The Town Hall has announced the creation of The Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact to honor arts and activism. The recipient will receive a $100,000 donation to be directed to a charity of their choice. The prize was created by Michael Matuza, Jeb Gutelius and The Town Hall.
The honor will recognize those who “promote awareness and create social change,” the Associated Press reported.
The prize’s advisory board includes Horne’s daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, as well as Harry Belafonte, recent Emmy Award winner Billy Porter, Judy Collins, Deesha Dyer, author Roxane Gay, Bob Santelli, Bruce Cohen and Jose Antonio Vargas.
“It was about advocating for equality and justice and I am so proud that her legacy will continue through the Lena Horne Prize,” Lumet Buckley said about her trailblazing mom, who died in 2010 at age 92.
The Tony and Grammy Award winner blazed trails on and off the silver screen as a dancer, actor and singer.
Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Horne’s repertoire include hit recordings (“Stormy Weather” and “Love Me or Leave Me,” films (“Cabin in the Sky,” “Meet Me in St. Louis” and “The Wiz”) and Broadway (“Jamaica,” and “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music”).
Blacklisted for a period during the 1950s, Horne later worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws and spoke at the March on Washington in 1963.
The inaugural winner of The Lena Horne Prize will be honored in February.
