Which top U.S. civilian honor did Georgia O'Keeffe receive in 1977?

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

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States. President Gerald Ford presented the honor to O'Keeffe in 1977, recognizing her exceptional contribution to American culture and the arts.

O'Keeffe was already an internationally recognized artist by that time. Her career had included abstraction, close-up flower paintings, New York imagery, and decades of New Mexico landscapes. The award placed her among figures judged to have made especially significant contributions to U.S. national interests, culture, or public life.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is distinct from the National Medal of Arts, which was established later, in 1984. O'Keeffe received that award as well, in 1985, but the 1977 honor was the Presidential Medal of Freedom.