Which major American award did Georgia O'Keeffe receive from President Gerald Ford in 1977?

Georgia O'Keeffe received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

President Gerald Ford awarded O'Keeffe the honor in recognition of her contribution to American culture. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the United States’ highest civilian award and recognizes especially distinguished contributions to national interests, culture, or public life.

O'Keeffe was already internationally recognized by the 1970s. Her paintings and drawings had helped define an American form of modernism, and her images of flowers, bones, buildings, and landscapes had become central to the history of twentieth-century American art.

She also received the National Medal of Arts in 1985, eight years later. That separate award is a common source of confusion, but the 1977 honor was the Presidential Medal of Freedom.