Author-educator Danielle Allen wins $500,000 prize

NEW YORK — The author and educator Danielle Allen has received a $500,000 prize from the Library of Congress.

Allen has won John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Allen is a Harvard University professor whose initiatives include the Democratic Knowledge Project for grades K-16 and whose books include “Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defence of Equality."

Allen will work with the Library of Congress on a project to encourage civic participation.

“We are proud to honour Danielle Allen, a leading expert on justice, citizenship and democracy, with the Kluge Prize as she helps to lead a timely national conversation on how we find our common purpose,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement this week. “Now is an important moment to discuss ways we can all promote civic strength and engagement, which is at the core of our national culture.”

Previous winners of the Kluge Prize include John Hope Franklin and Drew Gilpin Faust.

The Associated Press