Notes and Queries
The Society for Historians of the Gilded
Age and Progressive Era (SHGAPE) an-
nounces the third "SHGAPE Article
Prize," a biennial competition for the best
published article dealing with any
aspect of U.S. history in the period 1865-1917.
The article must have appeared in
journals dated 1995 or 1996. Eligibility is open
to any graduate student or individual
with a doctorate awarded after 1987, who has
not yet published a book. An article may
be nominated by the author or by others.
Authors of nominated articles need not
be members of SHGAPE. The prize con-
sists of a certificate and a $500 award
to be presented at the 1998 luncheon of the
Society, held during the convention of
the Organization of American Historians.
Send a letter addressing the author's
eligibility along with three copies of the arti-
cle to:
Professor Nin Mjagkij, Chair, SHGAPE Article Prize Committee,
Department of History, Ball State University,
Muncie, Indiana 47306. To meet
the deadline for the 1998 prize
submissions must be postmarked no later than
December 1, 1997. Inquiries about
joining SHGAPE should be addressed to
SHGAPE Secretary-Treasurer, Roger D.
Bridges, Hayes Presidential Center,
Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio 43420.
The Journal of Women's History has
put out a call for papers for a special issue
on women and the politics of religion.
In particular, the journal seeks contribu-
tions on both current and past
religious/political movements which are often
called "fundamentalist." Nikki
R. Keddie and Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi will serve as
guest editors for the special issue
which will appear in early 1999. Seeking arti-
cles that shed light on the rise of
movements with conservative gender positions
within diverse religious traditions
(Hinduism, Judaism Islam, Christianity), the
editors especially encourage articles
that provide historical perspective on the rise
of contemporary religiopolitcal
movements; compare two or more such move-
ments; or analyze women and religious
politics in the past. Deadline for submis-
sions is September 1, 1997. For more
information write to Journal of Women's
History, Fundamentalism Issue, c/o The Ohio State University,
Department of
History, Columbus, Ohio 43210.
The Irish American Cultural Institute
(IACI) is now accepting applications from
research individuals to investigate the
Irish experience in America. The Institute
welcomes applications from all
disciplines. Primary research is the focus of this
program. Projects such as museum
exhibitions, oral history collections, and the
compilation of bibliographies and other
research tools are also eligible to apply
for these funds. The IACI represents the
conviction of concerned individuals and
organizations that the Irish
contribution to America-often undocumented-de-
serves serious scholarly exploration. At
present, the IACI has three completed
funds to support such research.
Applications are accepted from any state. In the
event that two applications weigh in
evenly, consideration will be given to re-
search which focuses on a matter from
the region of the fund's origin. The prime
considerations are the significance of
the matter proposed and the capability of
the researcher to pursue it. Original
research and possibly assistance for travel or
publication costs can be funded up to a
minimum of $5,000 from each fund. The
Irish American Cultural Institute is a
nonprofit membership organization with in-
ternational headquarters in Morristown,
New Jersey. For an application, please
write to the Irish Research Fund, Irish
American Cultural Institute, I Lackawanna
88 OHIO
HISTORY
Place, Morristown, New Jersey 07960.
Applications must be received by August
15, 1997.
Branden Publishing Company recently
issued Silver Ribbon Skinny; The
tow-
path adventures of Skinny Nye, a
muleskinner on the Ohio and Erie Canal 1884,
by Marilyn W. Sequin. A work of
historical fiction, Silver Ribbon Skinny is
based on Pearl Nye whose hand-written
manuscripts of his family's trips on the
Ohio and Erie Canal are owned by the
Summit County Historical Society. The
work weaves factual and fictional
characters together to tell an interesting story of
life on the canals. The book costs
$12.95 and may be obtained by writing to the
Branden Publishing Company, 17 Station
Street, Box 843, Brookline Village,
Massachusetts 02147.
The Old Fort Niagara Association
recently issued a revised and expanded edition
of Siege, 1759; The Campaign Against
Niagara, by Brian Leigh Dunnigan. The
successful siege of Fort Niagara by an
Anglo-Iroquois army was one of the decisive
events of the Seven Years War in
America. Recounting the climax of the colonial
rivalry between France and England for
the control of the Niagara portage, the
Great Lakes, and the Ohio Valley, Siege,
1759 describes every phase of the siege
of Fort Niagara and shows how the
British used European tactics to conquer a
strong wilderness fortress. Drawing on
documentary and graphic information dis-
covered since 1986, the new edition
provides additional details about the siege.
The book is available for $14.95 plus
$1.75 postage and handling by writing to
Old Fort Niagara, P.O. Box 169,
Youngstown, New York 14174.
The Library of Congress recently
published Presidents of the United States,
Their Written Measure: A
Bibliography. Compiled by James
Sayler, a specialist
in American National Government with the
Library's Congressional Research
Service, Presidents of the United
States consists of approximately 1900 entries
which range from presidential elections
and inaugurations to the history of the of-
fice with statistical information about
the presidency. The heart of the book,
however, consists of entries about all
forty-one presidents listing recent and clas-
sic biographies, period studies about
each president and his administration, and
includes the president's published
papers (with current status of continuing presi-
dential papers projects), as well as
works he has written, collections of his writ-
ings, and transcripts of what he has
said. The book is illustrated with a contempo-
rary portrait of each president, all but
two of which were drawn from the Library of
Congress Prints and Photographs
Division. Presidents of the United
States is
available for $19 from the Library of
Congress Sales Shop or it can be ordered
from the U.S. Government Printing
Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O.
Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
15250-7954.
Greenwood Publishing Group recently
announced the publication of The Black
Press in the Middle West, 1865-1985, edited by Henry Lewis Suggs, as part of the
Contributions in Afro-American and
African Studies Series. In this, the
first com-
prehensive examination of the Black
press in the Middle West, Suggs and his ex-
pert contributors rewrite the history of
the Middle West and prove that Blacks were
not only present, but that they helped
to shape the history, character, and politi-
cal agenda of the region. The Black
Press in the Middle West is a follow-up vol-
ume to Suggs' acclaimed Black Press
in the South, 1865-1979 and is available
Notes and Queries
89
through Greenwood Publishing Group,
Inc., 88 Post Road West, P.O. Box 5007,
Westport, Connecticut 06881-5007.
Building a Finn Foundation: Medina County Architecture, 1811-1900, by
Susan Paolano McKiernan and Joann
Garwood King has been selected for the
Western Reserve Architectural
Historians' (WRAH) 1996 Western Reserve Award.
The Western Reserve Award is given
annually, when merited, to recognize one
completed work (a book, an exhibit, a
film) which contributes to an understanding
and appreciation of the architectural
history of Ohio and the Western Reserve in
particular. The committee justified the
1996 selection by stating, "Building a
Firm Foundation deserves the attention of the general reader and public
because it
covers an area of the Western Reserve
that heretofore has not had attention in this
form." The award was presented to
the authors by Clyde Patterson, A.I.A., chair-
man of the Awards Committee at the
WRAH's annual meeting on June 14, 1996.
The Society of American Baseball
Research recently announced that Fleet
Walker's Divided Heart: The Life of
Baseball's First Black Major Leaguer, written
by David W. Zang, has won the first
Harold Seymour Award. The announcement
was made at the society's annual
meeting, held June 6-9, 1996, in Kansas City,
Missouri. Founded in 1971, the Society
for American Baseball Research works to
establish an accurate historical and
statistical account of baseball from its origin
and to foster the study of baseball, as
a significant American society and athletic
institution. Published by the University of Nebraska Press, Fleet Walker's
Divided Heart is the life story of Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first
African
American to play baseball in a major
league. Walker achieved college baseball
stardom while a student at Oberlin
College in the 1880s, and continued to earn ath-
letic success on the playing field with
the Toledo Blue Stockings. Baltimore resi-
dent David W. Zang has taught sport
studies and American studies at the University
of Maryland, Pennsylvania State
University, and Towson State University. Fleet
Walker's Divided Heart is his first book.
The New York State Historical
Association recently announced several awards.
The New York State Historical
Association Manuscript Award for 1996 was given
to Carol Sheriff for her monograph
"The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the
Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862."
Sheriff's manuscript, which was originally a
Ph.D. dissertation at Yale University,
has been accepted for publication by Hill &
Wang Publishers. Dr. Sheriff now teaches
history at William & Mary University.
The award, $1500 and assistance in
publication, is presented each year to the best
unpublished study of some aspect of the
history of New York as a province or a
state. Alan Taylor, Professor of History
at the University of California at Davis,
has been awarded the 1996 Kerr History
Prize for his article, "The Great Change
Begins: Settling the Forest of Central
New York," which appeared in the July
1995 issue of New York History. The
Kerr History Prize is awarded each year to
the best article published in the
Association's quarterly journal and includes a
purse of $1000. And finally, Nancy
Hagedorn, a Research Fellow at Colonial
Williamsburg and a member of the
Department of History at St. John's University,
Jamaica, New York, received Kerr Prize
Honorable Mention for her article,
"Brokers of Understanding: Interpreters as Agents of Cultural Exchange
in
Colonial New York," which appeared
in the October 1995 issue of New York
History. The award of Honorable Mention includes a purse of
$250.
90 OHIO
HISTORY
The Forest History Society recently
announced several awards. Leon Alligood,
senior writer for the Nashville
Banner, won the John M. Collier Award for Forest
History Journalism. His five-part
feature appeared in September 1995. The Ralph
W. Hidy Award for the best article in Forest
& Conservation History went to
Charles E. Brooks of Texas A&M
University for his article, "Overrun with Bushes:
Frontier Land Development and the Forest
History of the Holland Purchase, 1800-
50." Robert L. McCullough received
the Theodore C. Blegen Award for best article
published in a journal for his "A
Forest in Every Town." which appeared in the
Winter 1995 issue of Vermont History.
The F.K. Weyerhaeuser Forest History
Fellowship went to two doctoral students
at Duke University, Catherine J. Karr and
Nigel M. Asquith. From Coastal
Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of
Environmental Change in Temperate
North America From 1500 to the Present, by
Gordon G. Whitney, received the 1995
Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Award for best
book on forest and conservation history.
The Forest History Society is a non-
profit educational institution. Founded
in 1946, it advances historical understand-
ing of mankind's interaction with the
forest environment through programs in re-
search, publication, service, library,
and archival collections. Affiliated
with
Duke University, the Society
co-publishes the quarterly journal Environmental
History through the auspices of Duke University Press.
The Franklinton Historical Society
Bicentennial Committee has scheduled nu-
merous events to mark the 200th
anniversary of the founding of Franklinton, the
first permanent settlement in central
Ohio. Special projects include a three-day
celebration in September 1997, the
placement of a permanent sculpture on Broad
Street just west of the river,
construction of a typical flatboat that would have been
used by settlers of that era, a
commemorative book on the history of the area,
placing of lighting on the steeple of
Holy Family Church, and various other pub-
lications, events, and commemorative
products. The three-day celebration in
September will include a War of 1812
reenactment, a Muffins baseball game, walk-
ing tours, and an historical artifacts
display. Those interested in learning more or
volunteering on any of these projects,
please phone Carol Stewart at (614) 279-
9382.
Published by the Ohio Historical Society
since 1887, Ohio History hopes to
serve as a clearinghouse for information
about Ohio historians, departments of
history, professional meetings, research
activities, historical societies, museums,
and libraries. Such an undertaking
depends, however, upon the cooperation of the
many individuals and institutions we
endeavor to serve. If you or your organiza-
tion are interested in placing an
announcement in "Notes and Queries," please
write to: Ohio History, Ohio
Historical Society, 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus,
Ohio 43211-2497. Production deadlines
dictate that all dated materials (contests,
meetings, requests for papers) be in our
office five months prior to publication.