Robert Currie has received the 20th Annual National Tartan Day Award for his outstanding contribution to the Scottish American community.
The choice was unanimous and the Scottish Coalition said: “Bob Currie has devoted more than 30 years to supporting and promoting Scottish-American culture in the USA, from developing the outstanding Tartan Week festival for the past 20 years at Ellis Island every year during Tartan Week to producing the Pipes of Christmas concerts, both are now recognised as leading annual calendar events of the Scottish American diaspora.
“This, together with Bob’s tireless work in support of the Learned Kindred of Currie and promotion of Gaelic culture, makes him such an outstanding recipient.”
The presentation is part of the Scottish Coalition’s and the National Tartan Day Capitol Committee’s Tartan Day Commemoration Event. The Commemoration will include with readings, music and messages from various Scottish American organizations across the USA celebrating Tartan Day locally in their own ways. The 2022 National Tartan Day Award will be awarded to Mr Currie at a ceremony in Alexandria, VA on April 5, 2022.
Bob Currie said: “First and foremost, I’m very grateful for the recognition from the award committee. Having remained faithfully committed to my love of Scotland for decades, I don’t seek accolades, I work for the joy of introducing people of Scots descent into their wonderful and historic heritage. It’s a bigger bonus when I see non-Scots or “affiliate” Scots, as we call them, share in this experience.
“It is especially profound for me to receive this honor in its 20th year. This is a year of so many important anniversaries for me. I made my first trip to Scotland exactly 40 years ago in 1982. I formed the Currie Society ten years later in 1992. This year also marks the 20th year since we started our ‘Tartan Day on Ellis Island’ program. Ten years ago this year, we began rallying our Kindred via social media on Facebook and Twitter and now enjoy a strong worldwide following. And now we’re here in 2022 and I’ve just signed on as a staunch supporter of the new Lord Lyon Society and added a new music scholarship to our educational programming. It’s truly amazing how one trip to Scotland would change my life forever.
“While I love all of Scotland, her beautiful country, history and warm and welcoming people, I must confess that my ‘Highland Heart’ belongs to the Island of Arran. It was from here in 1828 that my 3x great grandfather made the brave journey across the Atlantic to establish our family in Canada and later the US. I think about Neil and Flora Currie and often wonder what they think of all this celebration of family. I hope they are proud. Coincidentally, I was raised in a town called Scotch Plains! As you might surmise, the town was settled by Scots in 1684.”
Bob has been honoured with many awards for his decades of work to preserve Scottish history for those living in the US. He was unanimously elected Commander of the Name and Arms of the Currie family as affirmed by the Lord Lyon in 2018 at a ceremony in Edinburgh.
Currie, along with the support and guidance of the Scots Gaelic community reestablished the once famed literary dynasty by forming a family society in 1992. Now a “Learned Kindred” as opposed to a Highland Clan, the far-flung Curries have grown from strength to strength, now counting thousands in their membership rolls and multiple social media outlets on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter among others.
The Society’s signature events include “Tartan Day on Ellis Island” (founded in 2002) and the award-winning “Pipes of Christmas” concerts now in its 24th year. The Society has distributed thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving students in the US, Canada, and Scotland.
In November of 2017, Bob received the International Gaelic Leader Award from Scotland’s Bòrd na Gàidhlig – the departmental public body of the Scottish Government with responsibility for Gaelic. It was established in 2005 and is based in Inverness. Bob is also one of the inaugural Supporters of the new Lord Lyon Society in Edinburgh.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
