photo by: Contributed Photo

Elizabeth Schultz is pictured holding the Tom and Anne Moore Peace and Justice Award next to the peace pole in Lawrence's Centennial Park in mid-October.

Longtime University of Kansas professor Elizabeth Schultz is the latest recipient of an annual award given to Douglas County citizens or organizations whose work has advanced peace or justice.

Ecumenical Campus Ministries recently awarded the 2020 Tom and Anne Moore Peace and Justice Award to Schultz, who taught at KU for 34 years until her retirement in 2001. She is well known for her scholarly works on Herman Melville and helped launch the African American Studies department at KU, according to a news release from ECM, a nonprofit interfaith organization that serves KU and the surrounding community. Schultz also helped organize KU’s first Earth Day, a 24-hour long celebration that included poetry, art, acting and Henry David Thoreau readings, according to the release.

According to previous Journal-World reporting, Schultz helped establish the annual Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award as well as the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund, which supports local efforts in preservation and environmental education. She was also involved in the planting of numerous peace poles in Lawrence. It was a fact which Schultz’ nominator, Teresa Wilke, mentioned in her nomination. Wilke called Schultz “tireless in her lifelong pursuit of peace.”

The Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice established the Tom and Anne Moore Peace and Justice Award in 1994 and managed it until 2019. Tom Moore was director of KU’s YMCA for 23 years and Anne Moore ran the volunteer clearinghouse for Volunteers in Service to America, according to the release. The couple was also involved in the Oread Friends Meeting, a monthly meeting place of Quakers in Lawrence.