February 26, 2010: President Obama presents a National Humanities Medal for achievement in 2009 to Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award-winner Rita Moreno. Moreno was among the 20 honorees awarded medals in the White House East Room as part a National Endowment For The Humanities and National Endowment For The Arts event. Moreno is perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Anita in the 1961 film version of West Side Story.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Michelle Obama kisses Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
Newscom/WENN
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker, a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Newscom/WENN
Ted Sorensen, speechwriter and adviser to President John F. Kennedy, receives his medal from President Obama.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro, biographer of Robert Moses and President Lyndon Johnson.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Williams. Williams composed the legendary scores for Star Wars, the Indiana Jones series, Jaws and the Harry Potter series.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Maya Lin receives an architecture medal for her work on such buildings as the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.
Newscom/ptsphotos
American opera singer Jessye Norman.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Joseph P. Riley, Jr., mayor of Charleston, SC.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Elie Wiesel.
Newscom/ptsphotos
David H. Stull, Dean of The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, America’s oldest continually operating conservatory.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Peter Martins, artistic director and chairman of faculty of New York’s School of American Ballet.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Pulitzer Prize-winner Annette Gordon-Reed, whose research first brought to light Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings.
Newscom/ptsphotos
Author and University of Chicago Professor Emeritus William McNeill.
Newscom/ptsphotos
American painter and sculptor Frank Stella.
Newscom/ZumaWire
Paul Pelosi and his wife, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), also attended the event.
Newscom/ptsphotos
