The Abbott Sisters Living Legacy Project.
Scholarships and Awards

The Project has worked closely with the Office of the Governor of the State of Nebraska to create the annual “Abbott Sisters Day,” and with the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation to create the annual “Grace Abbott Award.” It has also partnered in work to name the Grace Abbott School of Social Work at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), to establish the Abbott-Independent Scholarship Fund at UNO, to restore the Grace Abbott Children’s Park of Grand Island, Nebraska, to create and install bronze busts of the sisters in the Edith Abbott Memorial Library of Grand Island, and to establish the Abbott Sisters Research Center, also at the Edith Abbott Library.

Grace Abbott Award

The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation has presented the annual Grace Abbott Award since 2003 to recognize outstanding commitment to improving child and family well-being in Nebraska. President Mary Jo Pankoke says that the award honors “those who have made a difference” in strengthening the lives of children and families “in the courageous spirit of Grace Abbott.”

Past recipients include individual honorees Dr. Doug Christensen, Mike Alesio, Senator Kathy Campbell, Donna Tubach Davis, Dick Holland, JoAnn LeBaron and Ally Milder (posthumous). Business honorees include BryanLGH Medical Center, Cabela’s, ConAgra Foods, Duncan Aviation and First National Bank.

Amy Panning, 2010 Winner of the Spirit of Grace Abbott Award

Spirit of Grace Abbott Award

The Spirit of Grace Abbott Award is presented by the Grace Abbott School of Social Work (University of Nebraska-Omaha) to the student who has "walked in Grace Abbott's footsteps and most closely modeled their student social work career in the spirit of Grace Abbott."

2010 Winner of Spirit of Grace Abbott Award - Amy Panning. Read more

Abbott-Independent Scholarship

A permanent and ongoing fund (created by the Grand Island Independent, the Grace Abbott School of Social Work, the University of Nebraska Foundation and the Abbott Sisters Project) to supply financial support for students who have graduated from a Hall County, Nebraska, high school and who are pursuing a degree in Social Work at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, or the University of Nebraska-Kearney.  The fund is established as part of the encompassing “Living Legacy” Project honoring Grace and Edith Abbott -- both of whom were born and raised in Hall County. 

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION STATEMENT: “Scholarships provide opportunities to prospective and current students by making higher education more affordable.  Students demonstrating strong academic performance, possessing remarkable skills, or adding a unique dimension to the student body are ideal candidates for scholarship awards. Today it is not uncommon to find conscientious undergraduates holding down one or more part-time jobs -- and still graduating several thousand dollars in debt.  Given our University’s long-standing commitment to providing broad access to higher education, we are particularly concerned by this financial burden to students.  Undergraduate scholarships allow students to invest their energies more fully in course work.  Scholarship recipients gain freedom to pursue internships and other experiences that will enrich their personal and career developments.  The establishment of the Abbott-Independent Scholarship in Social Work is a major and lasting contribution to the students of our state.”

Terese Svoboda with Riek Machar Teny, the current vice-president of Southern Sudan.

Svoboda Nuer Scholarship

Terese Svoboda, a renowned author of poetry and prose, is offering $500-$2,000 to students of Nuer heritage in the Grand Island high school system. Svoboda is a native Nebraskan who has published thirteen books including her translation of Nuer song, “Cleaned The Crocodile’s Teeth,” which was selected “Writer’s Choice” in the New York Times Book Review. A one-year award, the scholarship may be awarded to one or more qualifying students who produce a song in the Nuer language.

For more information go here.