Two American Jews, artist Ben Shahn and playwright Lillian Hellman, were voted here today the gold medals of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, highly coveted awards granted only once in five years. The special distinctions are given to members of the Institute, a group made up of 250, which is the parent body of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Mr. Shahn, whose works have been acquired by many major museums, is famous for many of his contributions to the graphic arts in many media. He has often done works with Jewish themes. One of his achievements in the latter category is a set of illustrations for the Haggadah. Miss Hellman has written many plays that have been produced on Broadway and in leading theaters around the world.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
