Awards

Several local organizations have taken note of what Women Transcending Boundaries has done in bridging differences and divisions.

The International Center of Syracuse presented its 2012 International Humanitarian of the Year award to WTB.

The May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society gave WTB its annual Sam May Award (see photo) in 2011. Sam May, an American reformer,lived from 1797 to 1871 and devoted himself to education, women’s rights and abolition of slavery.

The Syracuse Federation of Women’s Clubs gave WTB its Oberlander Memorial Achievement Cup in 2011. The award is named after Anna Williams Oberlander, who was the first recipient of this cup in 1932 and was called “The Most Civic-Minded Woman in Syracuse.” Upon her death in 1948, the cup was passed on to the Syracuse Federation of Women’s Clubs and has been awarded annually to the member club whose civic contributions have been deserving of recognition. In the photo, President Gay Montage (second from left) and Betty Lamb (third from left) accept the Oberlander Award from Federation officers Candace Edwards (l) and Nancy Keoghan (r).

The Jewish Community Center, which serves the greater Syracuse area, honored WTB in 2010 with an award for its notable community work.

Betsy Wiggins and Danya WellmonWTB co-founders, Danya Wellmon and Betsy Wiggins, were recipients of a 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Unsung Hero Award given annually at the community-wide Martin Luther King Jr., Day Celebration at Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome.

WTB received a distinguished award in 2005 from the metro Syracuse non-profit and social justice organization Peace Action. At that time, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll lauded WTB for showing that “concerned, committed citizens can build international bridges of peace from any location.”

Our Women Transcending Boundaries Council members have included founders of groups with which we have collaborated.

Helen Hudson, founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence, received an Achievement Award in 2010 from the Syracuse Post-Standard. We have joined members of Mothers Against Gun Violence in holding vigils at locations where someone died of a gunshot wound. Helen (3rd from right in the back row) is the President of the Syracuse Common Council.

President George W. Bush congratulates Ruth Colvin after presenting her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ruth's pioneering work in literacy became an early WTB project. White House photo by Eric Draper

Ruth Colvin has received numerous awards as founder of ProLiteracy Worldwide. One of our early projects was literacy education, and Ruth spearheaded developing literacy textbooks for use in the IBTIDA school we supported in Pakistan. Ruth Colvin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 for her pioneering work in literacy.

[White House photo by Eric Draper]