2023 Award Winners | 2024 Award Winners | Nomination Forms
Award Categories and Guidelines
Awarded at the Annual Conference in April, these scholarships and awards reflect the AHA’s mission to encourage engagement with Arkansas history, especially in the realms of education and writing.
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AHA Student/Teacher Scholarship
The Arkansas Historical Association is offering a grant of up to $300 to facilitate attendance at AHA’s annual conference of a student or teacher from each of the state’s congressional districts. Applicants for this scholarship may include either: (A) undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled in an Arkansas institution of higher learning: or (B) K-12 history and social studies teachers. Funds may be used for lodging, transportation, meals, and registration.
The 84th Arkansas Historical Association conference will be held April 10-12, 2025 in Fort Smith. The theme is “Law and Justice in Arkansas.”
How to Apply
Interested applicants must provide a letter stating how the conference theme and attendance would benefit them, along with a separate letter of support from a faculty member (for students) or a school administrator (for teachers).
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Student/Teacher Scholarship,” should be postmarked by March 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
Student/Teacher Scholarship
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is March 1, 2025.
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John William Graves Book Award
The John William Graves Book Award was established in 2015 and is presented biennially for the best book-length historical study (nonfiction) whose primary focus is any aspect of the history of race relations in Arkansas or of the history of African Americans in Arkansas. It is given in honor of historian John William Graves, who received his B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Arkansas in 1964 and 1967 and his Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia in 1978. He is a past president of the Arkansas Historical Association and the author of Town and Country: Race Relations in an Urban-Rural Context, Arkansas, 1865-1905, published by the University of Arkansas Press.
The inaugural John William Graves Book Award was given in 2016 and consisted of a prize of $1,000 and a certificate to be presented to the author at the annual conference of the Arkansas Historical Association. The publisher of the award-winning book shall be honored with a certificate of merit and a grateful letter of transmittal.
Eligible works include book-length historical studies written in English and published in the two calendar years preceding the annual conference.
How to Apply
The Graves Book Award will next be awarded in 2026. Those interested in entering the competition should submit one copy of their work to each member of the awards committee by January 1, 2025. It is the applicant’s or publisher’s responsibility to pay shipping charges. Entries will not be returned but instead retained by committee members, who are serving without compensation. No late submissions will be accepted.
Entries, clearly labeled “2025 Graves Award,” should be mailed directly to the judges. For a list of the current judges, contact the AHA at renwickh@uark.edu.
Or email the application to renwickh@uark.edu using the subject heading “Graves Book Award.”
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J. G. Ragsdale Book Award
Since 2002, the Arkansas Historical Association has annually presented the J. G. Ragsdale Book Award in Arkansas History for the best book-length historical study (nonfiction) of any aspect of Arkansas history. The 2025 winner will receive a framed certificate and prize of $1,000. The publisher will be honored with a certificate of merit and a grateful letter of transmittal. This award is given in honor of J. G. Ragsdale, a 1919 graduate of the University of Arkansas. Ragsdale was a founding member of the Arkansas Historical Association and chaired the board of trustees at the University of Arkansas.
Eligible works include book-length historical studies written in English and published in the two calendar years preceding the Arkansas Historical Association’s annual conference in April. The 2025 award is for books published in 2023 and 2024.
How to Apply
One copy of each entry must be received by each award committee member by January 15, 2025. It is the publisher’s or applicant’s responsibility to pay the postage for each book. Entries will not be returned but will be retained by committee members, who are serving without compensation. No late submissions will be accepted.
For questions and a list of the judges to whom entries should be sent, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Application deadline is January 15, 2025.
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James H. Atkinson Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Arkansas History
A leader in Arkansas history education, James H. Atkinson was a founder and twice president of the Pulaski County Historical Society and editor of its journal for over ten years. For more than twenty years, he served on the editorial staff of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, and in 1952 he became president of the Arkansas Historical Association. He was also chairman of the Arkansas History Commission for eight of the twelve years that he served on its board. For these enduring contributions, his title, “Mr. Arkansas History,” was more than well-deserved. This award for Excellence in the Teaching of Arkansas History is given in his honor.
Any elementary or secondary teacher who teaches a course in Arkansas history is eligible for the award. The winner will receive a framed certificate and a prize of $1,000 at the annual AHA conference of the Association in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025. The winner will be notified prior to the meeting.
How to Apply
To be considered, an applicant must return four completed copies of the official entry form to the Arkansas Historical Association office by March 1, 2025. Any application received after that date will not be processed.
For questions and the entry form contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Atkinson Award,” should be postmarked by March 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is March 1, 2025.
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Lucille Westbrook and Violet B. Gingles History Awards
The Arkansas Historical Association is pleased to announce the 2025 Violet B. Gingles and Lucille Westbrook Local History Awards competition. Anyone, whether a professional or an amateur historian, is eligible to submit a manuscript.
The Westbrook Local History Award is presented for the best manuscript article on a topic of local Arkansas history. The article must deal with a phase of neighborhood, city, county, or regional history or with a person associated with local Arkansas history. Edited documents and memoirs will be considered for this award. The award recipient will receive a framed certificate and prize of $1,000. The Gingles Award is presented for the best manuscript article on any topic of Arkansas history. The article can deal with any phase of the history of the state or with any individual connected with its past. The award recipient will receive a framed certificate and prize of $500.
Winners will be determined by a panel of judges, who will determine the placement of entries in either the Westbrook or Gingles category. An entry will not be considered for both prizes, and the AHA reserves the right not to award one or both of the prizes in a given year. Recipients will be awarded at the annual AHA conference of the Association in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025.
How to Apply
To be considered, entries must be submitted to the Arkansas Historical Association office by February 1, 2025. Manuscripts should be no longer than thirty-five pages and must be documented. Text, including quotations and notes, should be double-spaced. Notes should be numbered consecutively. Since manuscripts are evaluated anonymously, only the full title of the article should appear at the top of the first page of the manuscript. On a separate page the following information should be included: title, author’s name, complete address, and telephone numbers or email address. Photocopies must be clear and easily readable. Entries must be submitted in triplicate and must not have been submitted elsewhere or published previously. All essays will be considered for publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. If the essay is not published, the author will be free to pursue other opportunities. One copy of each entry will be placed in Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. Submission of an entry presumes permission for researcher use.
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Westbrook-Gingles Awards,” should be postmarked by February 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is February 1, 2025.
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Susannah DeBlack Award
The Arkansas Historical Association is pleased to announce the 2025 Susannah DeBlack Award competition. The award was established through the generosity of Thomas, Susan, and Susannah DeBlack, for books introducing young readers to Arkansas history.
Eligible works include books for young readers (grades K-8) on a topic related to Arkansas history published within the preceding two years. The winner will receive a framed certificate and prize of $250 at the annual AHA conference in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025.
How to Apply
Those interested in entering the competition should submit three copies of their work by February 1, 2025. It is the applicant’s or publisher’s responsibility to pay shipping charges. Entries will not be returned but instead retained by awards committee members. No late submissions will be accepted.
For questions and a list of the judges to whom entries should be sent, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Application deadline is February 1, 2025.
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James L. Foster and Billy W. Beason Award
The Arkansas Historical Association is happy to announce the 2025 James L. Foster and Billy W. Beason Award competition, established through the initiative of Dr. Buck Foster and funded by the Foster and Beason families to promote the scholarly study of the state’s history.
Eligible works include master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation completed in 2024 addressing an aspect of Arkansas’s history. Thesis and dissertation advisors or sponsoring history departments are invited to submit students’ work for consideration. The winner will receive a framed certificate and prize of $500 at the annual conference in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025.
How to Apply
Entries must be submitted in triplicate. Photocopies must be clear and easily readable. Since submissions will be evaluated anonymously, only the full title of the work should appear at the top of the first page. On a separate page, contact information for the author, advisor, and department should be given.
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Foster-Beason Award,” should be postmarked by January 15, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
Foster-Beason Award
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is January 15, 2025.
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The NEARA Award for Exemplary Archival Research
The Arkansas Historical Association is pleased to announce the 2025 NEARA Award competition. The award was established in 2013 to honor volunteers from the Lawrence County Historical Society who saved the territorial records for future researchers when the Powhatan county seat was abandoned in 1963. The award is funded through the generosity of the family of Eugene Sloan (1892-1981), a Jonesboro lawyer born in Powhatan, to encourage primary document research at the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NEARA) in Powhatan. Anyone, whether a professional or amateur historian, is eligible to submit a manuscript.
Eligible works include manuscript articles using archival records from NEARA, particularly the Lawrence County territorial papers (1815-1836), some of which have been posted online. The winner will be determined by a three-person panel consisting of representatives of NEARA and the Arkansas Historical Association and will receive a framed certificate and prize of $1000 at the annual AHA conference in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025.
How to Apply
To be considered, entries must be submitted to the Arkansas Historical Association office by February 1, 2025. Manuscripts should be no longer than thirty-five pages and must be documented. Text, including quotations and notes, should be double-spaced. Notes should be numbered consecutively. Since manuscripts are evaluated anonymously, only the full title of the article should appear at the top of the first page of the manuscript. On a separate page the following information should be included: title, author’s name, complete address, and telephone numbers or email address. Photocopies must be clear and easily readable. Entries must be submitted in triplicate and must not have been submitted elsewhere or published previously. AHA reserves the right not to award a prize in a given year. All articles will be considered for publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. If the essay is not published, authors are free to pursue other opportunities. Copies will be placed with NEARA and Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. Submission of an entry presumes permission for researcher use.
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “NEARA Award,” should be postmarked by February 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
NEARA Award
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is February 1, 2025.
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Tom Dillard Advocacy Award
The Arkansas Historical Association is pleased to announce the 2025 Tom Dillard Advocacy Award competition. The award honors Tom W. Dillard’s decades of work as an archivist, historian, writer, collector, and promoter of the teaching of Arkansas history in the state’s schools and is awarded annually to a person or organization who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to promoting the study, appreciation, preservation, and dissemination of Arkansas history.
Individuals, non-profits, governmental agencies, and private businesses are eligible. Candidates for the Tom Dillard Advocacy Award can be self-nominated or nominated by others. The winner will receive a plaque and prize of $300 at the annual AHA conference in Fort Smith on April 11, 2025.
This award was established and funded by Timothy G. Nutt.
How to Apply
To be considered for the award, biographies, current résumés, and a detailed statement of the advocacy work of the nominee, and any supporting material, shall be submitted in triplicate to the AHA offices.
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Dillard Award,” should be postmarked by February 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
Dillard Award
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is February 1, 2025.
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The Walter L. Brown Awards
The Arkansas Historical Association is again sponsoring an awards program for Arkansas county and local historical journals and newsletters. We hope your society will accept this invitation to enter the competition for journals published in 2024.
The Association offers the following awards to journals:
Walter L. Brown Award for the Best County or Local Journal–$100 prize and certificate
Honorable Mention as runner-up for best county or local historical publication–certificate
Award for the Best Use of Graphics in a journal–certificate
The Association recognizes the many excellent articles published in these journals by offering the following awards to individual authors:
Best Article in a County or Local Journal–$100 prize and certificate
Best Biography, Autobiography, or Memoir–certificate
Best Family History–certificate
Best Church History–certificate
Best Community History–certificate
Best School History–certificate
Best Business History–certificate
Best Edited Document–certificate
Best Newsletter published by a county or local society or other entity working in the field of Arkansas history–certificate
The awards will be presented at the Association’s annual conference at Fort Smith on Friday evening, April 11, 2025. Winners will be notified in advance.
How to Apply
To participate in the awards competition, each society should submit three complete sets of the volume of its journal completed in 2024, as well as any newsletters published. A volume can consist of a single annual publication, two semi-annual publications, four quarterly issues, etc. Entries will be judged on the basis of format, historical content, writing style, and editing. The Association reserves the judges’ right to determine whether an individual award will be given in a particular year.
For questions, contact the AHA at 479-575-5884 or renwickh@uark.edu.
Entries, plainly labeled “Brown Awards,” should be postmarked by February 1, 2025 and mailed to:
Arkansas Historical Association
Brown Awards
416 N. Campus Drive, MAIN 416
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Application deadline is February 1, 2025.
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The Diamond Award
The Diamond Award is given to an institution or to an individual representing a collective initiative that makes an exceptional contribution to the study, preservation, or promotion of Arkansas history. Nominations must be made by or through a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Historical Association. AHA members must submit nominations to a member of the board of trustees no later than December 1. The Diamond Award Form
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Award of Merit
The Board of Trustees invites members of the Arkansas Historical Association to suggest programs, projects, or individuals for consideration for Awards of Merit from the AHA. The procedure and guidelines are as follows: 1) For a proposal to be considered, it must be sponsored by a Board member, must be in writing, and should be accompanied by an explanation of description of the program’s or project’s work or the individual’s worthy deeds; 2) All projects and programs recommended for commendation should reflect responsible standards of historical objectivity and factual accuracy; 3) Commendations should not be presented to programs and projects that are primarily commercial in focus. AHA members should submit nominations to a trustee by December 1.