He is a star! Tributes to Kirk Douglas for his humanitarian work against prejudice
Last updated 10/24/2008 11:22:26 AM
Tributes to Kirk Douglas for his humanitarian work against prejudice
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas has been honoured for his lifelong humanitarian work in fighting prejudice.
He's been praised by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, which collects and maintains an archive of nearly 52,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses in 32 languages and from 56 countries.
The Ambassadors for Humanity Award, presented to Mr Douglas, honours individuals who embody the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's goal of using the archive as a tool to promote tolerance, cultural understanding, and mutual respect.
Steven Spielberg, Founder of the Shoah Foundation, presented the award, saying: "Kirk Douglas has been a lifelong leader in promoting the well being of others.
"He has fought prejudice and stereotypes, and raised public awareness of social problems. He has never been afraid to stand up for those causes even if he was one of the few - sometimes the only one - who recognised the need and could do something about it.
He added: "His determination to change the world makes him an ally of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute as it enters a new stage of activity."
There was further praise from Steven B. Sample, President of USC. "He is a generous philanthropist and champion for human rights whose legacy truly makes him an ambassador for people around the world," Mr Sample explained.
The ceremony was also used to unveil the Institute's new global initiatives. These initiatives include scholarship and research; the development of online educational tools to provide easier access to the testimonies; a focused international outreach to educators; and the launch of a preservation project to maintain the testimonies in perpetuity.
In addition, the Institute will expand its archive to include new content and has formed an historic alliance with the Rwandan organization IBUKA to record the testimonies of survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide.
The Institute works within the University of Southern California and with partners around the world to advance scholarship and research, to provide resources and online tools for educators, and to disseminate the testimonies in its archive for educational purposes.
In addition to preserving the testimonies, the Institute helps document the stories of survivors and other witnesses of other genocides.