Northland native Bob Dylan has been named a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
The White House on Thursday announced 13 recipients of the honor, including the famed musician who was born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing, Minn. Other recipients, who will receive the awards later this spring, include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former astronaut and senator John Glenn, author Toni Morrison, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and former Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt.
The Medal of Freedom is "presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to the White House news release.
"These extraordinary honorees come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but each of them has made a lasting contribution to the life of our nation," President Obama said in the news release. "They've challenged us, they've inspired us, and they've made the world a better place."
Here is Dylan's award citation:
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"One of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, Dylan released his first album in 1962. Known for his rich and poetic lyrics, his work had considerable influence on the civil rights movement of the 1960s and has had significant impact on American culture over the past five decades. He has won 11 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award. He was named a Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Art et des Lettres and has received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Dylan was awarded the 2009 National Medal of Arts. He has written more than 600 songs, and his songs have been recorded more than 3,000 times by other artists. He continues recording and touring around the world today."
Among the other honorees:
• John Doar, civil rights attorney.
• William Foege, physician who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox.
• Gordon Hirabayashi, who openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
• Dolores Huerta, civil rights workers and women's advocate.
• Jan Karski, officer in the Polish Underground during World War II and one of the first people to provide accounts of the Holocaust to the world.
• Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
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• Shimon Peres, Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
