The International Society for Landscape, Place, & Materials Culture is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2016s Awards:
Henry H. Douglas Distinguished Service Award
The Award is named in memory of the founder of the Pioneer America Society, today the International Society for Landscape, Place, and Material Culture, Mr. Henry H. Douglas, and is given to an individual who has made significant contributions over the years to furthering the Society’s goals through service, teaching, publications, and/or the promotion of historic preservation.
While it was my goal to leave everyone guessing, it won’t tell long to figure this out. This year’s recipient is the second woman to receive this award. She has been an active member of the organization since 2003, perhaps the choice of Barbados as a meeting site was an added incentive! She was co-chair of the conference held in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 2007, chaired the Book Award committee in 2008, was treasurer from 2009 to 2012.
By now you know that the winner this year is Paula Reed, shown here accepting the award from Dawn S. Bowen (right), the Chair of the Douglas Award Committee. Paula has operated her own cultural resources firm, which specializes in National Historic Landmark Nominations, for nearly 40 years. Her contributions to the field of historic preservation have been significant. She has worked on projects as diverse as Mountain Meadows Massacre District is southwestern Utah, to Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, although most of her week has been in the mid-Atlantic. She has also published articles on historic preservation and taught courses on preservation.
Fred B. Kniffen Book Award
The Fred B. Kniffen Book Award, established in 1989, honors the work of Fred B. Kniffen, a long-time scholar at Louisiana State University. The Kniffen Award recognizes the best-authored book in the field of North American material culture.
The recipient this year is Jason Weems, for his book, Barnstorming the Prairies: How Aerial Vision Shaped the Midwest, University of Minnesota Press, 2015.
Allen G. Noble Book Award
The Allen G. Noble Book Award is given in honor of the scholarship Allen G. Noble contributed to cultural geography. The award recognizes the best-edited book in the field of North American material culture. The recipients this year are Daniel Maudlin and Bernard L. Herman, for their edited volume, Building the British Atlantic World: Spaces, Places, and Material Culture, 1600-1850, University of North Carolina Press, 2016.
ISLPMC Historic Preservation Award
The Historic Preservation Award, established in 2000, recognizes the preservation, interpretation, instruction, celebration, or exhibit of American material culture.
The 2016 winner is South Union Shaker Village of Auburn, Kentucky (see image below) for its outstanding contributions to the recognition and preservation of Western Kentucky’s heritage and material culture.
The 2016 Historic Preservation Certificate of Merit recipient is the Landmark Preservation Society of Bowling Green and Warren County for its ongoing efforts to preserve architectural, cultural and archaeological resources in Bowling Green and Warren County. The image below (“Wooden Weed” by Theresa Shea) of an historic barn surrounded by the beauty of flowering canola is representative of the landmarks this society seeks to honor.
Warren E. Roberts Graduate Student Paper Competition Award
The Warren E. Roberts Graduate Student Paper Competition, established in 2004 in memory of folklife scholar Warren E. Roberts, a longtime ISLPMC member and former member of the Board of Directors, is an annual competitive award that recognizes excellence in original graduate student fieldwork, documentary research, and writing in the area of traditional North American material culture. No award was presented in 2016.
Wilhelm-Keiffer Student Research Award
The Wilhelm-Keiffer Student Research Award, established in 2012, is in honor of long-time ISLPMC member, Hubert Wilhelm, a cultural geographer, whose enthusiasm for teaching has had a global impact, and is in memory of the Society’s Executive Director, Artimus Keiffer, an architectural geographer and student of Hubert Wilhelm. The award is an annual competitive prize in the field of American material culture which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. No award was presented in 2016.