2024 American Stories, American Lives Gala
American Stories, American Lives Gala
Featuring Ron Howard in Conversation with Film Critic Ty Burr
Registration for this event is now closed. If you'd like to be added to our wait-list or have questions please contact Kelly Neagle at kelly.neagle@nehgs.org or 617-226-1215.
Engaging in family history enriches lives. It is a source of joy, education, inspiration, empowerment, and a means of healing and repair. It is an undertaking that can profoundly influence the lives of individuals and holds the power to impact society positively. By exploring family histories, we uncover the stories of our ancestors—their triumphs, struggles, cultures, and traditions—and bring context and meaning to the world in which we live.
American Ancestors is dedicated to telling the stories of the individuals who built our nation and to helping future generations understand how our past shapes our present. Join us as we honor famed storyteller and filmmaker Ron Howard with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his many contributions to the field of American Culture and the Arts.
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation’s most celebrated directors. From the critically acclaimed Oscar-winning dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the revealing documentaries We Feed People (2022) and Pavarotti (2019) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1984), he has created some of Hollywood’s most memorable films and series. Howard founded Imagine Entertainment in the early 1980s with Brian Grazer, and they continue to run the company together as executive chairmen. In 2021, Howard published his memoir, The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family.
In Conversation With
Ty Burr has been a film critic and pop culture columnist for The Boston Globe for two decades, from 2002 to 2021. Ty currently writes “Ty Burr’s Watch List," a subscription e-mail newsletter for streaming movie and TV recommendations and cultural commentary; he also writes feature commentary and reviews for the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame (2013), The Best Old Movies for Families (2007), and the e-book The 50 Movie Starter Kit: What to Know if You Want to Know What You're Talking About (2013). In 2017, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism.
Gold Benefactor
David and Jean Kruger
Mark Kimball Nichols and Lowell Reid Massey
Silver Benefactors
Thomas and Juliet Gede
Thomas Bailey Hagen
Gerry and MaryLee Halpin
M. David and Mary Alice Sherrill
SIT Investments
Bronze Benefactors
Cheryl L. Edwards
Amy Griffin
Jennifer and Davie Piña
Rebecca Morgan Rogers
Tim and Julia Schmolke
Jonathan Treat and Leslie Aitken
David M. Trebing
Tawny Welch
