This prize is offered in alternating years. The next time it will be offered is 2010.

This award seeks to perpetuate the legacy and memory of a founder of the public history movement, Dr. Robert Kelley. It honors distinguished and outstanding achievements by individuals, institutions, non-profit or corporate entities for having made significant inroads in making history relevant to individual lives of ordinary people outside of academia. The Kelley Award consists of a $500 cash award and framed certificate. It will be presented at the NCPH annual meeting in Louisville, KY, in April 2008.  Award winners also receive complimentary registration for the annual meeting and for the awards luncheon.

Individuals or organizational entities may be considered for the award.

a) Individuals may be nominated based on their achievements and specific contributions to the public history movement, usually over a sustained period of time.

Evidence of scholarly excellence must be combined with two or more of the following: (1) sustained service to NCPH in an appointed and/or elected capacity; (2) demonstrated innovation in teaching and/or development of institutional training programs; (3) creativity as evidenced through the development of teaching and/or educational "outreach: materials; (4) a singular achievement (i.e. a motion picture, major exhibit, or a well-recognized book) that significantly contributes to the general public's understanding and appreciation of history; and/or (5) a distinguished record of creating, administering, or managing an undergraduate or graduate public history program at an institution of learning.

b) Institutions, colleges and university departments of history, non-profit, corporate or other organizational entities may be nominated based on the institution's achievements and specific contributions in advancing the cause of public history, usually over a sustained period of time.

Evidence of program excellence must be combined with two or more of the following in evaluating the contribution of each nominated institution: (1) innovative excellence in the training of public historians (either at an undergraduate or graduate level) as evidenced by a quality public history curriculum and/or success in placement and accomplishments of graduates in public history related jobs; (2) sustained commitment to the development of scholarly or other educational or teaching materials relating to the field of public history; (3) sponsorship and/or delivery of high quality training courses, conferences or educational outreach to the public or the public history community; (4) an outstanding record of public outreach programs (i.e. mass media, exhibitory, lecture series) that advance the appreciation of public history; and (5) demonstrated commitment to the value of expanding the public's knowledge and appreciation of history in the institutional or corporate setting.

Procedures and Submission Requirements

1. Nominations should be submitted in the form of a written narrative not to exceed 1,500 words (typed).

2. Nominations should include pertinent supporting documents, including a copy of the nominee's resume or curriculum vitae if available, plus a minimum of two and a maximum of five letters of support and a cover sheet.
Past Award Winners
2008-Alan S. Newell, Historical Research Associates, Inc.

2006-Dwight T. Pitcaithley, National Park Service

2004-The Government and Citizens of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in, First Native Peoples of the Klondike

2002-The University of South Carolina Public History Program

2001-Debra Bernhardt, Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University

1999-Otis L.Graham Jr., University of North Carolina, Wilmington

1998-The American Social History Project

First time presented in 1997 to Page Putnam Miller, Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History
Recent Winner

For more than thirty years Alan S. Newell has been one of public history’s leading practitioners.   He has founded and led public history businesses, conducted exhaustive research projects on behalf of state governments throughout the western and Midwestern United States, advised federal agencies and courts on issues of timely importance, and made significant contributions to the NCPH. Few public historians of his generation have done more to improve the use of history in American public life.  

Perhaps Newell’s most important contribution was the founding, in 1974, of Historical Research Associates, Inc., (HRA) one of the pioneering public history consulting firms. Newell went on to expand HRA’s practice beyond cultural resources management into the field of litigation support. In 1989, he established Litigation Abstracts, Inc., a company dedicated to managing the complex collections of data generated by court cases based on historical issues. In 2006, Newell retired as president of HRA, although not before working to position the company so as to ensure that succeeding generations of historians within the firm could share in ownership.

Alan has made a distinctive and lasting contribution to NCPH.   He has served on the editorial board of The Public Historian , the Board of Directors (1992-1995), as vice president (1999), and finally, as president (2000). It was through his commitment to helping young historians that NCPH began offering travel grants to the annual meeting. Newell was also a leading figure in the creation and growth of the NCPH Endowment Fund and played a critical role in NCPH’s receipt and fulfillment of a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant.

At a time when Robert Kelley, for whom this award is justly named, was developing public history in the academy, Alan Newell was among a handful of practitioners whose energy, initiative, and integrity helped win a place for historians in the private sector. His pioneering work in the for-profit sector opened a door of opportunity for many historians who today work in public history consulting firms. Through HRA, Newell demonstrated that public history conducted through a private business could produce history meeting the highest standards of scholarship and the requirements of public service. For his lifetime contributions to the field, the National Council on Public History is honored to present him with the 2008 Robert Kelley Memorial Award.

 

Copyright 2007 NCPH
 
Cavanaugh Hall 327 - IUPUI, 425 University Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202-5140
PH: (317) 274-2716  | FAX: (317) 278-5230  |  ncph@iupui.edu