Harper Lee | 1926 - 2016

Author Harper Lee during a ceremony in 2007 honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor in the capital, Montgomery.

(Rob Carr / Associated Press)

Feb. 19, 2016 8:40 AM PT

In 2007, Harper Lee received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)