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--Moderator, NYHIST-L

College Celebrates Isaac Newton Arnold's Legacy of Compassion
April 21, 2006  - David Dinkins awarded inaugural medal

Hartwick College this week honored one of its most important alumni and
one of its newest friends, capping off Isaac Newton Arnold Days by
presenting the inaugural Isaac Newton Arnold Humanitarian Medal, named
after the influential Civil War-era congressman, to former New York City
Mayor David Dinkins.

Arnold was born in the Otsego County town of Hartwick, NY and educated
in the early 1800's at the institution then known as Hartwick Seminary
and Academy. After a few years as a schoolteacher and attorney in nearby
Cooperstown, Arnold went west to the frontier state of Illinois. It was
there that he met and became friends with fellow lawyer Abraham Lincoln.
Elected to speak for his district in the House of Representatives,
Arnold would remain true to his friend, and is still known as one of
Lincoln's most loyal supporters.

Arnold's most lasting contribution to his nation's history came in
1864, when he took the courageous step of proposing a law supporting his
biggest cause. On February 15 of that year, he boldly moved to amend the
constitution of the United States to abolish the practice of slavery. As
the Civil War raged on, he told the House of Representatives in June of
that year, "we can have no permanent peace while slavery lives." While
his effort failed in 1864, Arnold's bold move became the supreme law of
the land in 1865 after Lincoln's re-election, and the scourge of slavery
was outlawed in the United States.

It was with great pride that Hartwick College President Richard P.
Miller, Jr., presented former New York City Mayor David Dinkins with the
inaugural Isaac Newton Arnold Humanitarian Medal on Friday, April 21,
2006. Highlighting a long career in public service and advocacy, Dinkins
was elected mayor in 1989, and served a four-year term. He is currently
professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at the Columbia University
School of International & Public Affairs and senior fellow of the
Columbia Center for Urban Research & Policy. While Dinkins was forced to
cancel a planned trip to Hartwick to accept the award, College officials
praised his commitment to Arnold's causes. "As testament to his
commitment to tolerance the world over, Dinkins strove to ensure that
the 'bells of freedom' would indeed 'ring in South Africa,' marshalling
New York's considerable financial clout in anti-apartheid sanctions,"
Miller said. "At home, he created the office of Special Commissioner
of Investigations for schools, initiated after-hours youth centers known
as Beacon Schools, and labored to give rise to an all-civilian police
complaint review board. On his watch, New York City made a turnaround in
public safety, as violent crime rates fell in each of the last three
years of his tenure, well in advance of declines in other major cities
and in the national crime rate."

"The criteria for the award centers upon achievements that advance
humanity. Dinkins is clearly focused upon the advancement of children
and young people," agreed Harry Bradshaw Matthews, associate dean &
director of U.S. Pluralism Programs at Hartwick College. "He has also
directed his considerable energies toward helping with the AIDS crisis,
and the homeless. He has effectively served as a role model, advocate,
and bridge for intercultural and interracial advancements."