Featured Exhibit
Humanitarian of the Century Award presented to Muhammad Ali by the South Bend Rotary Club on November 8, 1995
On loan from Lonnie Ali.
Humanitarian of the Century
The People’s Champ lived in many places over the course of his life, for many reasons. He was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky; he lived and trained in Miami, Florida; he learned from the Nation of Islam in Chicago, Illinois. No matter where he lived or worked, he was always known as a favorite neighbor.
In 1975, Muhammad Ali purchased a property in Berrien Springs, Michigan, after meeting the mayor of nearby Benton Harbor. After learning that the people of the area had fallen on hard times because of a long history of segregation and discrimination of African Americans, Ali promised the mayor of Benton Harbor he would help them recover.
Ali lived on the property part time until 2006 and the area’s residents loved having the champ around, many feeling he breathed life into the adjacent communities even in his worsening physical condition. He and wife Lonnie frequently donated money to local projects and were ever-present at nearby charitable events. In 1995, Muhammad Ali was honored with the South Bend Rotary’s Humanitarian of the Century Award for his work with people with disabilities.
