The Hero Fund recently updated its online Roll of Honor Vol. II that chronicles the brave acts of Carnegie heroes awarded from 2018 to 2022.
The Roll of Heroes and Heroines, Vol. II, was commissioned from world-renowned calligrapher John Stevens of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The first pages were unveiled in 2018 at the Hero Fund’s Power of One gala, which celebrated the 10,000th and 10,001st Carnegie heroes. Stevens is hand-lettering the pages sending the work annually to Pittsburgh, where the pages are then scanned and displayed on the Hero Fund’s website. The roll, now totaling 39 pages, can be viewed, and searched, at carnegiehero.org/heroes/roll-of-honor.
The pages will eventually be incorporated into a bound book, but for now are stored in a portfolio at the Hero Fund’s offices.
In his initial talk with Commission President Eric Zahren, Stevens said he sensed “a good social purpose” to the project.
“It’s the kind of project that is becoming rarer. I could see it was a worthy project. I liked how interested [the staff was] in the project—artists appreciate an audience,” said Stevens.
Zahren said Stevens was uniquely qualified to complete the project. “From the very beginning it seemed that John took a sincere interest in the Carnegie Hero Fund, especially the courage and sacrifice of our awardees,” Zahren said. “Our only request was that he reflect these core ideals in his work.”
In addition to the text, Stevens applied gold leaf, vibrant colors, and a floral design, all qualities of illuminated manuscripts and traditional calligraphy. The floral work that flank the title of the Deed of Trust is the same flora—oak, ivy, thistle, and laurel— that is found on the back of the Carnegie Medal, respectively signifying strength, friendship, persistence, and glory – the attributes of a hero.
Zahren described the Roll of Heroes and Heroines as a “visible link to the work we do and the reasons we do it.”
“It remains our guiding light as we go about our daily work. To have it displayed, along with the names of heroes we have recognized and continue to honor, should inspire all of us,” he added.
Stevens is in the process of illustrating the pages that contain the 2023 Carnegie Medal recipients.
The Roll of Heroes and Heroines, Vol. 1, contains summaries of the Carnegie Medal recipients from 1905 to 2017. It is also available for perusing on the Hero Fund’s website or at the Fund’s Pittsburgh offices.
Together, these rolls of honor fulfill the last line of the Commission’s Deed of Trust, which requires that “A finely executed roll of the heroes and heroines shall be kept displayed in the office at Pittsburgh.”