Toni Morrison, 1931-2019

Toni Morrison, 1931–2019

Nobel Prize–winning author Toni Morrison receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a White House ceremony in Washington DC, May 29, 2012. Morrison died August 5, 2019, at the age of 88. Known for novels exploring the African American experience, Morrison, who was born February 18, 1931, received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her other accolades include the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988; the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1996; and the National Humanities Medal in 2000. (White House photo by Pete Souza, courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum.)