Kenneth Lauren Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films known for his style of making use of archival footage and photographs. Among his most notable productions are *The Civil War* (1990), *Baseball* (1994), *Jazz* (2001) and *The War* (2007). Burns's documentaries have been nominated for two Academy Awards (*Brooklyn Bridge* in 1982 and *The Statue of Liberty* in 1986) and have won seven Emmy Awards. Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and went on to graduate from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He earned his BA degree from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1975, and went on to be one of the co-founders of Florentine Films. The recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees, Burns is a sought-after public speaker, appearing at colleges, civic organizations, and business groups throughout the country.

Lynn Novick has been making acclaimed documentary films about American history with Ken Burns for more than twenty years. Most recently she co-directed *The Tenth Inning*, a two part, four hour update to the 18-1/2 hour series, *Baseball*, (1994). In 2007, Novick co-directed and produced The War, an epic seven-part series that told the story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of nearly 40 men and women from four American towns. *The War* received multiple Emmy nominations (as well as 3 Emmy awards) and the Television Critics' Association award for best news and information program of 2007. In 2001, Novick produced the 10-part series, Jazz, which explores in detail the culture, politics and dreams that gave birth to jazz music and follows this most American of art forms from its origins in blues and ragtime through swing, bebop and fusion. Jazz was nominated for five Emmy Awards. In 1998, Novick co-directed and produced the two-part biographical documentary, Frank Lloyd Wright, (1998) for which she received a Peabody Award. The film was shown at the Sundance, Telluride, Edinburgh and Seattle Film Festivals. Novick first worked with Burns as associate producer for post production on *The Civil War*. She previously served as researcher and associate producer for Bill Moyers on two PBS series: *Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth* and *A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers*. A graduate of Yale, she lives in New York City with her husband, Robert Smith, and their two children.

**Howard Bryant** is the author of nine books, Full Dissidence: Notes From an Uneven Playing Field, The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America and the Politics of Patriotism, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball, Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston, the three-book Legends sports series for middle-grade readers, and Sisters and Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, and contributed essays to 14 others. Bryant is the author of nine books and a two-time Casey Award winner for best baseball book of the year. He was a 2003 finalist for the Society for American Baseball Research Seymour Medal. His book The Heritage was the recipient of the 2019 Nonfiction Award from the American Library Association’s Black Caucus and the Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazard Donald Award for Outstanding Work in African American Studies.