2018 National Council on Public History (NCPH) Award Winners, from their announcement, with links to projects and publications

NCPH Founders Award

The NCPH Council of Past Presidents developed this award in 2015 to recognize those individuals who were present at the creation of NCPH and who played critical roles in the organization’s success.

Suellen M. Hoy
Joel A. Tarr, Carnegie Mellon University

Board of Directors Award for Extraordinary Service

Awarded for the first time this year, this award is given when the NCPH Board seeks to recognize publicly an individual who has, through long-term and substantive effort, made transformational contributions to the work of NCPH.

Cathy Stanton, Tufts University

Outstanding Public History Project Award

This award is presented for work completed within the previous two calendar years that contributes to a broader public reflection and appreciation of the past or that serves as a model of professional public history practice. NCPH acknowledges the generous support of Stevie and Ted Wolf that makes this award possible.

Award Winner: The Mere Distinction of Colour, Elizabeth Chew and Christian J. Cotz, James Madison’s Montpelier; Chris Danemayer, Proun Design LLC; and Molly O’Brien, Northern Light Productions

Honorable Mention: Confinement in the Land of Enchantment: Japanese Americans in New Mexico during World War II, Sarah R. Payne, Colorado State University Public Lands History Center; Andrew Russell, Central New Mexico Community College; and Victor Yamada, New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League

NCPH Book Award

For the best new book about or growing out of public history theory, study, or practice.

Award Winner: Andrew G. Kirk, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Doom Towns: The People and Landscapes of Atomic Testing, A Graphic History (Oxford University Press, 2017)

Honorable Mention: Ronald Rudin, Concordia University, Kouchibouguac: Removal, Resistance, and Remembrance at a Canadian National Park (University of Toronto Press, 2016)

Excellent in Consulting Award

This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of public history through consulting or contract work.

Individual Award: Delia Hagen, Hagen Historical Consulting, African-American Heritage Resources in Helena, Montana

Honorable Mention: Ryan Shackleton, Know History, Métis Nation of Ontario

G. Wesley Johnson Award

Named in honor of the founding editor of The Public Historian, this award recognizes the most outstanding article appearing in the NCPH journal during the previous volume year.

Award Winner: Natasha Erlank, University of Johannesburg, for “From Main Reef to Albertina Sisulu Road: The Signposted Heroine and the Politics of Memory,” The Public Historian Vol 39, No 2

Honorable Mention: Gregory Rosenthal, Roanoke College, for “Make Roanoke Queer Again: Community History and Urban Change in a Southern City,” The Public Historian Vol 39, No 1

Student Project Award

This award recognizes the contributions of student work to the field of public history and provides assistance for conference travel costs.

Award Winner: Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights, Taylor C. Bye, Kathryn B. Carpenter, Samantha Hollingsworth, Leah Palmer, Kevin Ploth, and Jennifer Tufts, University of Missouri-Kansas City

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For more information, see the Awards page on the NCPH website