The Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) has announced that its annual awards luncheon will be held Sept. 17 in Birmingham at the Wynfrey Hotel Ballroom.

The luncheon will feature guest speaker Rick Bragg. Bragg, a native of Piedmont, Ala., is a noted Southern author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His novels, including All Over But the Shoutin’ and Ava’s Man, have become anthems of Southern spirit, tradition and family.

Bragg’s writings, in many ways, mirror his upbringing, and he tells stories of coming-of-age in the South with a touch of humor and wit.

Bragg is also a journalist. He worked as a reporter for The Birmingham News, The Anniston Star, and The Talladega Daily Home before becoming a national correspondent for The New York Times. He won a Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for his stories written about contemporary America in 1996.

Bragg currently teaches in the journalism department of the University of Alabama. He will be introduced at the luncheon by Brandy Ayers, publisher of the Anniston Star.

Alabama Humanities will present two awards at the luncheon in honor of extraordinary contributions to the humanities. Jonathan “Jack” Westervelt Warner will receive the 2007 Alabama Humanities Award for his contribution to the humanities through the Westervelt Warner Museum of American Art.

The museum represents the culmination of more than 40 years of art collecting. Its halls tell the story of American history — its spirit of life and the notable artists who depicted it.

It displays Warner’s passion for art and history and his commitment to sharing it with the public. Warner will be introduced at the luncheon by Cathy Randall of Randall Reilly Publishing.

The Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust will receive the 2007 Charitable Organization in the Humanities award for its role in promoting the humanities through generous financial donations to the AHF and its programs, as well as other educational and cultural programs throughout the state.

Since its inception in 1978, the Trust has awarded more than $17 million to more than 250 charitable organizations in the Greater Birmingham area. The Charitable Organization in the Humanities award will be presented to Stewart Dansby on behalf of the Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust. Victor Hansen III, publisher of The Birmingham News, will introduce Dansby.

The awards luncheon will also recognize five teachers receiving the 2007 Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will support their professional development and classroom enhancements in history and civics.

Generously funded by Edgar Welden of Birmingham, the scholarships honor the memory of Jenice Riley, the late daughter of Gov. Bob Riley and his wife, Patsy, whose dedicated passion for teaching and devotion to community helped ensure a quality education for our state’s youth.

This year's recipients include Melanie Falconer and Claire Hoffman, Thompson Intermediate, Alabaster; Sarah R. Hartman, Shiloh Elementary, Sardis; Gigi Hankins, Wetumpka Elementary, Wetumpka; Jane Johnson, Western Heights Elementary, Eufaula; Libbie Orbison, Riverton Elementary, Huntsville.

For more information on the Alabama Humanities Awards Luncheon or to purchase tickets, contact the Alabama Humanities Foundation at (205) 558-3992 or download a ticket order form on the Web at www.ahf.net.

The Alabama Humanities Foundation is an agency established in 1974, which serves the entire state, creating and fostering opportunities, for scholars and the public together, to explore human values and meanings through the humanities.

The AHF is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the state of Alabama, corporations, foundations and individuals.

Annually, the AHF reaches over 100,000 Alabamians statewide, including teachers, students, parents, young children and senior citizens.