Award-Winning Stage and Film Actor Stephen Lang to Receive Empire State Archives and History Award on October 25

The New York State Archives Partnership Trust will award Stephen Lang, an award-winning stage and film actor and history enthusiast, the 2018 Empire State Archives and History Award on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Chancellors Hall in the State Education Building in Albany, New York. Lang is known for iconic roles in Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, Tombstone and Avatar and has earned critical acclaim for his Medal of Honor themed solo play and film, Beyond Glory, as well as his chamber play on the Lost Battalion of World War I, His Dark Land. 

The public is invited to hear Stephen Lang speak about his distinguished career as an actor in theatre, television, and film. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, August 15 for $25 ($15 for veterans and students) and can be purchased by phone at 518-486-9349 or online at the New York State Archives Partnership Trust website. The program will be held at historic Chancellors Hall located inside the State Education Building at 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York (entrance to Chancellors Hall is at the corner of Washington Avenue and Hawk Street).

“We are proud to host this event to honor Stephen Lang with the Empire State Archives and History Award,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa.  “Stephen has done so much to honor veterans and our nation’s history through his work as an actor and playwright. We are honored to recognize him with this award.”

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said, “Stephen’s distinguished career as an accomplished actor who helps make history accessible to all makes him most deserving of this honor. He has displayed his deep appreciation of our nation’s history and respect for our veterans through his award-winning plays and films. We thank Stephen for sharing his passion for history with audiences around the world and are proud to recognize him with the Empire State Archives and History Award.”

“Turnabout is fair play so it is ‘altogether fitting and proper,’ as Abraham Lincoln might say, for me to enjoy the honor of interviewing Stephen Lang on stage this year, as he did for me last year, at the Empire State Archives & History Award ceremonies,” said Harold Holzer, 2017 Empire State Archives & History Award Laureate, and Jonathan F. Fanton Director at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. “But I will be doing much more than returning a favor. I will be repaying a huge debt all New Yorkers feel to a supremely gifted actor who has used his fame and talent so effectively, for so long, to promote appreciation for our American past. In his choice of roles, his interpretations, his one-man shows, and his readings—portraying characters ranging from Stonewall Jackson to Lincoln himself—my friend Stephen Lang has brought life to history and brought history to life. I am delighted to help honor him in Albany.”

“We’re honored to present Stephen Lang with the 2018 Empire State Archives and History Award,” said Tom Ruller, New York State Archivist and Executive Officer of the Archives Partnership Trust. “At the State Archives, we help to preserve the legacy of veterans through documents. Stephen Lang helps bring that legacy to life.”

Stephen Lang has an accomplished career as an actor in theatre, television and film. His Broadway work includes Death of a Salesman, A Few Good Men, The Speed of Darkness, and Hamlet. Lang has performed his solo play, Beyond Glory, for audiences all over the world, receiving the Chairman's Medal for Distinguished Service from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Bob Hope award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. His acclaimed film of Beyond Glory has received awards at the Barbados Independent Film Festival, Buffalo Niagara Film Fest, and the Phoenix Film Fest. Other memorable films include Last Exit to Brooklyn, Death of a Salesman, Tombstone, Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, Public Enemies, Avatar, and Don't Breathe. He stars in Peter Jackson’s upcoming epic adventure film Mortal Engines, which Universal Pictures will open worldwide in December, and he is currently filming all four Avatar sequels for director James Cameron.  He has received Honorary Doctorates from Jacksonville University, and from his alma mater, Swarthmore College. He is a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of The Actors Studio.

The Empire State Archives and History Award acknowledges the outstanding contributions by a national figure to advance the understanding and uses of history in society. Previous honorees include historians Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., James McPherson, Robert Caro, David McCullough, Ron Chernow and Harold Holzer; documentarian Ken Burns; and actors Sam Waterson and Richard Dreyfuss. 

The Archives Partnership Trust is a statewide non-profit whose mission is to keep over 350 years of New York’s rich documentary heritage within the New York State Archives accessible and alive though education, preservation, and outreach programs. The New York State Archives is the largest repository of state government records in the nation, holding over 250 million records of state and colonial governments dating back to the Dutch colonial period in 1630. The New York State Archives is a program of the State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. For more information, visit the New York State Archives Partnership Trust website and the New York State Archives website.