Americans Who Tell The Truth
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About

Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) is dedicated to the belief that a profound understanding of citizenship is the only safeguard of democracy and the best defense of social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Working with our portraits and narratives of courageous citizens, AWTT crafts collaborative educational and community experiences that illuminate the ongoing struggle to realize America’s democratic ideals and model the commitment to act for the common good.

AWTT will create spaces where people can learn ways to participate democratically in building just and equitable communities. Through making art, facilitating journeys of individual and community discovery, and demonstrating how history shapes lives, AWTT will inspire a future of active citizenship.

Our History

What began in 2002 as artist Robert Shetterly’s personal portrait project has become a broad-based, not-for-profit arts and education organization, the mission of which is to foster and inspire “a profound sense of citizenship” by exposing students at all levels to portraits, quotes, biographies, and related resources built around these “Models of Courageous Citizenship.”

The AWTT project was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization in 2004. With the platform provided by the organization, the portraits and Robert Shetterly have participated in hundreds of events, presentations and exhibitions. To date, Shetterly and his portraits have been invited into grammar schools, high schools and colleges in 27 states and Washington, D.C. The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program promotes him as a speaker through the Council of Independent Colleges. In addition, AWTT has collaborated with a number of organizations working to promote engaged citizenship through education and the media.

The portraits and related resources are modular, allowing them to be grouped to enhance existing curricula in a wide variety of subject disciplines, from science to the language arts. The project emphasizes civil rights, human rights, economic, and environmental justice, using past and present figures in American history that have inspired, pushed, challenged, and warned the country and its citizens to do better.

The AWTT website further supplements each portrait with a well-researched biography and links to other articles and resources. Each portrait is a portal into American history, a story of courage and persistence that reminds us that the power of democracy lies in the determined actions of the people. Taken together, the portraits demonstrate how change requires a community; meanwhile, each individual portrait is a testament to the fact that through persistence, each of us has the power to make a difference.

This work aims to close what has been called the “Civic Engagement Gap” or “Citizen Participation Gap” in the U.S. Young, poor, minority, and rural Americans under-participate in the civic life of our communities and the nation, and AWTT offers models of how citizens can act to solve the problems we face in our communities and our world.

In 2021, film-maker Richard Kane released a documentary about Shetterly and AWTT, called Truth Teller.

About the Artist

Robert Shetterly was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 1969 from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature. At Harvard he took some courses in drawing which changed the direction of his creative life — from the written word to the image. Also, during this time, he was active in Civil Rights and in the Anti-Vietnam War movement.

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Meet the Team

Aran Headshot

Aran Shetterly

Executive Director

Connie Carter

Constance Carter

Director of Education

Kathy Photo2

Kathy Barry

Bookkeeper/Manager

Kristie Gonzalez

Kristie Gonzalez

Director of Strategic Engagement

Meet the Board

Marion Dillon Morris

Marion Dillon Morris

Board Chair

Sherry Streeter

Sherry Streeter

Board Member

Jamie Kilbreth

James Kilbreth

Board Member

Eric Sass

Eric Sass

Board Treasurer

Robert Shetterly

Robert Shetterly

Founder and Board Member

Diamond John

John Diamond

Board Member

More AWTT News

The Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) portraits and narratives highlight citizens who courageously address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness. By combining art and other media, AWTT offers resources to inspire a new generation of engaged Americans who will act for the common good, our communities, and the Earth.

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What's New

Read up on AWTT updates and what our portrait subjects have been up to.

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AWTT Channel

Check out our videos including portrait subject testimonials and talks by Robert Shetterly.

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Awtt Portrait Exhibit

Volunteer Opportunities

Want to get more involved? Learn how you can volunteer with AWTT and make a difference. 

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Get in Touch!

We are here to help. Contact us to learn more about using AWTT portraits and how you can inspire your local communities.
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Americans Who Tell The Truth

Hear Updates from AWTT

Learn more about our programs and hear about upcoming events to get engaged.

Help Support AWTT

Your donations to AWTT help us promote engaged citizenship. Together we will make a difference.

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© 2024 Americans Who Tell The Truth
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Aran Shetterly

Aran Shetterly

Executive Director

Aran Shetterly has worked with his father, Robert Shetterly, on digital, educational, and organizational strategy for Americans Who Tell the Truth organization since 2004. 

Currently, he’s working on a book about the 1979 “Greensboro (North Carolina) Massacre.” This project, under contract with Amistad/HarperCollins, has received support in the form of fellowships with Virginia Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

His first book, THE AMERICANO: Fighting with Castro for Cuba’s Freedom, was described in a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly: “William Morgan, an American who made his way to the front line of Castro’s revolution in Cuba, gets thorough and entertaining treatment in this biography. Largely unknown in the U.S., his story is filled with the suspense of a blockbuster war movie, offering new and insightful perspective into the political climate of 1950s Cuba.”

From 2005 to 2009, he founded, edited, and wrote for Inside Mexico, which became the most widely distributed English-language periodical in Mexico, publishing long-form articles on such topics as the history of African-Mexicans, the impact of NAFTA, and the “third-culture” that has developed along the Mexican-American border.

Aran grew up in rural Maine, studied English Literature and Spanish Language and Culture at Harvard College, and earned an MA in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife, Margot Lee Shetterly, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, Hidden Figures, and his son Giles.

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Connie Carter

Constance Carter

Director of Education

Connie has been the Director of Education, for AWTT since 2015, working to engage youth and adults in issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness. She is also the co-founder and director of Operation Breaking Stereotypes since its inception in 2002. Previously, she was the Service Learning Coordinator at Orono High School for eight years. During that time she began an exchange between Orono High School in Orono, Maine, and Walton High School in the Bronx, New York. This exchange served as the prototype for Operation Breaking Stereotypes and the catalyst for the formation of the non-profit. Connie is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in American Literature. She has an MA in Education of the Blind and Visually Impaired from the University of Northern Colorado and a C.A.S. in counselor education from the University of Maine. Connie has also worked as a volunteer with American Field Service and the Experiment in International Living, both youth exchange programs. Connie currently resides in Orono, ME, with her partner Ed Brazee and their very friendly chocolate lab.

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Kathy Photo2

Kathy Barry

Bookkeeper/Manager

Kathy came to AWTT in January 2024 after retiring from over 30 years in healthcare finance.  She lives in Milford Maine with her husband of 47 years and their two dogs, Willow and Jack, and their cat Ripley.

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Kristie Gonzalez

Kristie Gonzalez

Director of Strategic Engagement

Kristie has been the Director of Strategic Engagement for AWTT since 2021. Her previous work experience has been in independent school administration, primarily in admission and development. Kristie is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in American Literature with minors in History of Art and Architecture and Education.

Kristie grew up outside of Philadelphia and lives in Wenham, Massachusetts with her husband Eric and sons Liam and Andrew. When she is not working for AWTT, she can be found working in her garden or walking her dogs in the woods.

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Marion Dillon Morris

Marion Dillion Morris

President

Marion Dillon Morris was a corporate art consultant in SF and the NY metropolitan area for 20 years before relocating to Brooklin, Maine in 2001. Over the past 30 years she has curated exhibitions, coordinated arts events and served on many boards, focusing particularly on education. Most recently she was a trustee on the George Stevens Academy board during which time she held many leadership positions including Board Chair.

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Sherry Streeter

Sherry Streeter

Sherry Streeter is a painter and graphic designer living in Brooklin, Maine. She was the art director of WoodenBoat magazine, has illustrated and designed many books and currently exhibits her paintings in galleries throughout Maine. She is very committed to environmental and social justice issues and is a believer in the power of community working toward the greater good. Her commitment has led to her involvement with local organizations over the years, including WERU-FM community radio, Brooklin Youth Corps, Friends of Acadia, and Equal Rights Maine. The mission of Americans Who Tell the Truth reflects her deepest beliefs.

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Jamie Kilbreth

James Kilbreth

James Kilbreth is an attorney at Drummond Woodsum where he focuses his practice on complex commercial and regulatory litigation, including antitrust, securities, officer and director liability, class actions, bid award challenges, insurance coverage disputes, environmental and energy matters, and higher education issues. Jamie was the lead lawyer for the State of Maine in its litigation against the tobacco industry, securing a $1.5 billion recovery, the largest in State history. He is currently representing a class of over 28,000 retired state employees and public school teachers in their constitutional challenge to cutbacks to their pension benefits, as well as defendants in a major securities fraud case, a wind farm developer in a number of nuisance suits, and a major energy infrastructure development.

Jamie previously served as Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of Maine, where he supervised all major civil and criminal actions of the office and personally handled several major cases. Before that he was the Deputy Attorney General in charge of all the state’s civil litigation. Prior to his work at the Attorney General’s office, he worked at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.

Among his Public Service work, Jamie is a Trustee and Past President of the Maine Audubon Society, a former Director and Past President of the Southern Africa Legal Services and Legal Education Project, and the former Director of the Maine Bar Foundation.

 

 

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Eric Sass

Eric Sass

Eric spent 22-years as a senior executive at the PBS Network and is the founder of PBS Home Video.  He was later President and COO of WK Networks, an internet start-up, and the Chief Operating Officer and President of Strategic Communications & Learning for Healthy Companies International, a research and management consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia.  He is the Chairman Emeritus of Global Camps Africa and has been a trustee with the National Urban League and the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art.  Eric and his wife, Eveleen, an artist, live in Sedgwick, Maine, and enjoy sailing the Maine coast. 

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Robert Headshot

Robert Shetterly

Founder

Robert Shetterly, the founder of Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) and the painter of the AWTT portraits, was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 1969 from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature. Also, during this time, he was active in Civil Rights and in the Anti-Vietnam War movement.

After college and moving to Maine in 1970, he taught himself drawing, printmaking, and painting. For twelve years he did the editorial page drawings for The Maine Times newspaper, illustrated National Audubon’s children’s newspaper Audubon Adventures, and approximately 30 books.

His painting has tended toward the narrative and the surreal. Since 2002 he has been painting the series of portraits Americans Who Tell the Truth. The exhibit has been traveling around the country since 2003. Venues have included everything from university museums and grade school libraries to sandwich shops, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, and the Superior Court in San Francisco. To date, the exhibits have visited 27 states. In 2005, Dutton published a book of the portraits by the same name. In 2006, the book won the top award of the International Reading Association for Intermediate non-fiction.

Shetterly has received honorary doctorates from the University of New England and the University of Maine at Farmington. In 2005, he was named an Honorary Member of the Maine Chapter of Veterans for Peace

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Diamond Dust Jacket Photo Cropped Copy

John Diamond

John N. Diamond has had decades of experience in public life and community service. He began his career as a reporter for the Lewiston (Maine) Daily Sun (now known as the Lewiston Sun-Journal) before embarking on 10 years in politics and government. During that period John served eight years in the Maine Legislature, including the final four years as House Majority Leader.

In 1989 John began a 33-year career in higher education, starting as a journalism professor at the University of Maine. In that role he appeared as a panelist on Maine Public Television’s weekly program Media Watch and as host and associate producer of the network’s 10-part series Inside Augusta with John Diamond. 

In 1992 John moved to a senior leadership position as the University of Maine’s director of Public Affairs, followed by similar positions with the University of Maine System, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Wisconsin System. He returned to Maine in 2015 and served as President/CEO of the 110,000-member University of Maine Alumni Association until his retirement in 2022.   

In 2015 he published a memoir titled Please Delete: How Leadership Hubris Ignited a Scandal and Tarnished a University. The book tells the story of an attempted cover-up of financial mismanagement at the University of Arkansas and John’s role in uncovering the facts behind what became a high-profile scandal. 

John has served on numerous not-for-profit boards and councils over the years. A Bangor, Maine, native, he and his wife Marcia now consider Blue Hill, Maine, their home and “final resting place.”

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