I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to honor some extraordinary American trailblazers at this year’s Spirit of the Prairie awards dinner, September 12. The annual Spirit of the Prairie dinner is Conner Prairie’s opportunity to recognize those who have created a distinctly American story with their vision, passion, dedication and courage. The honorees exemplify the spirit of endeavor that created the rich and ever changing tapestry of the United States.

This year’s Hoosier Heritage honorees include international opera soprano and Indianapolis native Angela Brown; Emmy-nominated journalist Janet Langhart Cohen; preservationist, philanthropist and Indiana native Richard E. Ford; and U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar.

Through the years Conner Prairie has given the Spirit of the Prairie Award to remarkable, talented, accomplished people with foresight, brilliance and perseverance. I’ve always loved the awards dinner and this year adds yet another illustrious roster of honorees to the Conner Prairie family including a personal connection from my past.

In 1985 when I was invisibly pregnant with my oldest son and working as a curator at the Frick house museum, Pittsburgh, I was hired as a consultant to give advice to a young entrepreneur, Pleasant Rowland. She wanted to create a series of books about girls in America’s past with dolls of each of the girls featured.

A group of historians assembled with Pleasant and her writers. We talked about the characters they had invented: Felicity, a Colonial girl, Samantha, a wealthy orphan in the late 1800s, and Kirsten, a Norwegian child in Wisconsin. I shared what I knew about Helen Clay Frick’s life in Victorian Pittsburgh.

I hoped the venture would succeed because I shared her conviction that girls needed more active role models. But having never been interested in dolls myself, I doubted the project would go anywhere. You all know how wrong I was. Pleasant sold the flourishing company to Mattel, Inc. in 1998.

This year Conner Prairie has created a new award to honor someone who has stimulated American’s interest in history. Our first awardee is Pleasant Rowland. I’ve waited nearly a quarter of a century to thank her for pursuing a dream that has had positive impact on our country – and on my life. Because of Pleasant, I learned that it’s the story that matters in inspiring an interest in history. The details, the facts are essential – but only as background.

Please join me this year on September 12 at Conner Prairie to honor all of these amazing honorees.

See you there.