Congratulations to our 2023 History Award recipients. The Utah Historical Society’s annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to history, historic preservation, community history and scholarship in Utah. Whether these efforts are quiet or prominent, they benefit the state’s citizens.
The Utah Historical Society’s Annual Awards Ceremony was held on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024 at the historic Kearns Mansion, former home to UHS. Special thank you to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Governor Cox, the award donors, the Board of State History, and all of our award recipients. Please join us in celebrating our 2023 award recipients!
Outstanding Achievement Awards
The Cottonwood Heights Historic Committee
Sharon Johnson
Abe Johnson and the Friends of the Territorial Statehouse
Museum of Mormon Mexican History
Tom Owens, who has spent more than 30 years and $1 million preserving the property around the Rock Grist Mill.
Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation
Allen Roberts, often credited as being the founder of Utah’s historic preservation movement with a career spanning more than 50 years.
Read more about each of our 2023 Outstanding Achievement Award winners here.
William P. MacKinnon Award | Each year, William P. MacKinnon generously provides funds to further the professional development of a meritorious employee of Utah Historical Society.
This year, the William P. MacKinnon Award was presented to Monique Davila, community engagement coordinator for The Peoples of Utah Revisited. Read more about Monique and her work here.
Helen Papanikolas Awards | The Helen Papanikolas Award goes to the best college or university student’s paper on the subject of women’s history in Utah. This award is funded by Linda Thatcher and Patricia Lyn Scott.
Presented to Isabel Horton, a Weber State University student, for her paper, “Reflections of a Changing World: Women’s Role in Ward Cookbooks.”
Presented to Millie Tullis, a Utah State University graduate student, for her paper, “The Peepstone Woman in Logan.”
Read more about our 2023 Helen Papanikolas Award winners here.
Article Awards
Dale L. Morgan Award | Awarded to the best scholarly article appearing in the Utah Historical Quarterly. Presented to Sara Dant for, “Driving Utah’s Rivers: Working Water in the West,” published in the Spring 2022 issue.
Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Award | Awarded to the best general interest article appearing in the Utah Historical Quarterly. Presented to Susan S. Rugh for, “Motel Builders of the Modern West,” published in the Fall 2022 issue.
Nick Yengich Memorial Editor’s Choice Award | Awarded to the Utah Historical Quarterly article selected by the editors as their choice for the year. Presented to Rebecca Andersen for, “Bound to the Land: Cove Fort in Kesler Family History and Memory,” published in the Spring 2022 issue.
Leroy S. Axland Best Utah History Article | Awarded to the best Utah history article not published in Utah Historical Quarterly. Presented to Jennifer L. Lund for, “I am not considered much of a polygamist”: Sarah Peterson Lund Writes to Her Missionary Husband,” published in the Journal of Mormon History, 48, no. 2 (in 2022).
Read more about each of our 2023 Article Award winners here.
Book Awards
Finalist for the Best Book in Utah History
Presented to Andrew Gulliford for “Bears Ears: Landscape of Refuge and Resistance,” published by the University of Utah Press.
Juanita Brooks Best Book in Utah History Award
Presented to Amy Tanner Thiriot for “Slavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847 to 1862,” published by the University of Utah Press.
Read more about our 2023 Book Award winners here.
Honorary Life Member Award
Presented to Robert E. Parson, who grew up in Cache County, began his service to the state and to the Utah Historical Society in 1989, when he was hired on to a new program co-sponsored by the Historical Society and Utah State University: the Utah History Fair. Read more about Robert’s life and numerous contributions to the history field here.
Congratulations to our 2023 History Award recipients. Nominations for our 2024 History Awards are now open. Click here to submit a nomination.
Photos courtesy of the Utah State Office of the Governor.