Outstanding Achievement Awards

Each year, the Alliance presents awards honoring outstanding work in local history in our state. Individual Achievement Awards recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to Ohio’s historical societies, history museums, or the understanding and appreciation of state and local history. History Outreach Awards recognize outstanding local history projects in the categories of public programming, media and publications, and exhibits or displays. The Ohio Local History Alliance Champion Award recognizes individuals or groups (including public officials and others who are not local historians or local history organizations) for outstanding efforts in the support of and/or contributions to local history in Ohio. Nominees must demonstrate ongoing support for local history organizations and initiatives in Ohio; or exceptional service to local history in relation to one particular issue or initiative.

Meet our 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award winners here.

Nominations

Download the full Award Application here.
Download the required Budget Form (an Excel document) here.

The nomination form and necessary supporting materials must be sent in no later than August 1, 2024.

Please complete the online Nomination Form below. The completed form will be emailed to you to include with your materials.

Awards are presented at the Alliance Annual Meeting in October.

General Rules

- All nominations must pertain to Ohio state, regional, or local history. Nominated projects must be completed by July 1, 2024.
- Any person or project is eligible to be nominated for the program; however, the nominator (person or group) must be a member of the Ohio Local History Alliance.
- Ohio Local History Alliance members may nominate their own projects. Members may not nominate themselves for Individual Achievement or Champion Awards.
- Submitted materials become the property of the Ohio Local History Alliance unless return is requested.
- Nominations may be described or reviewed in the newsletter and electronic publications of the Ohio Local History Alliance without specific permission.
- Each nomination must be presented via separate files named for the following categories: 1) Nomination Form, 2) Description of Project/Individual’s Contributions to Local History, 3) Budget, 4) Letters of Support, and 5) Publicity. (Please note: “Budget” not applicable for Individual Achievement Awards or Champion Award.) Budgets must be formatted using the supplied format found at this link.
- Nominations must be submitted online. Supporting materials should be submitted to ehedler@ohiohistory.org via email, Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar file sharing applications

Deadline

The nomination form and necessary supporting materials must be sent no later than August 1, 2024.

Process

Soon after the deadline, a group of reviewers will evaluate the nominations. It is anticipated that the review will be completed in August and the award recipients announced by the end of the month. The awards will be presented at the Ohio Local History Alliance’s annual meeting, which will be held on October 4-5, 2024. The recipients or their representatives should attend to accept the award.

OLHA Outstanding Achievement Awards Categories:

1) Individual Achievement Awards

Individual Achievement Awards recognize people who have made outstanding contributions to Ohio’s historical societies or history museums or to the understanding and appreciation of state or local history. Nominees must meet the following criteria:

Be involved in a historical society, museum, or related organization for at least five years.
Demonstrate activity and excellence in more than one area of the organization’s operations.
If involved in teaching, demonstrate creativity in teaching methods and expertise in local and state history.

Support Material for Individual Achievement Awards
Nominations must be accompanied by letters of recommendation for the award and, for publicity purposes, one or more color or black-and-white photographs of the nominee. Support material is very important. The review panel needs news clippings, activity information, lesson plans, publicity, and other material to help them gain a clear picture of the nominee’s contributions to local history, historical organizations, or teaching.

2) History Outreach Awards

History Outreach Awards recognize outstanding projects that have educational content, that have contributed to the promotion and understanding of local and state history, and that have had an impact on the community– in other words, projects that inspired, connected, and educated their audiences to local history. Explain why this project represents an exceptional achievement for YOUR organization making sure to demonstrate how it goes beyond normal expectations. The awards committee is pleased to consider online projects for any category of the History Outreach Awards. Nominations will be accepted for projects in the following categories:

Public Programming:
These include, but are not limited to, school programs, workshops, tours, and lectures. Programs will be judged on their historical and educational value and on their implementation. Please include in the award nomination materials a written description and photographs of the program. The judges will determine whether your public program is award-worthy based on your nomination materials.

Media and Publications:
This is a broad category that includes local and regional history publications in the form of books, brochures, websites, newsletters, calendars, and posters, among other formats. Nominations must demonstrate that the publication accomplished its goal, reached its intended audience, and stimulated a greater interest in history. Style, creativity, and content will be considered. Please include a copy of the publication in the nomination materials.

Exhibits/Displays:
Exhibits will be judged on the basis of historical significance, factual and contextual accuracy, organization, design and “look” of the exhibit, and understandable narrative. Please include in the nomination photographs and a physical description of the exhibit, brief excerpts from the exhibit script, and sample labels. Keep in mind that the judges will have to decide whether your exhibit is award-worthy based on these materials without having seen the exhibit in person.

Support Material for History Outreach Awards
For all projects nominated for History Outreach Awards, please include:

- Detailed budget with itemized expenses. Nominations will not be considered without a budget using the format provided at this link.
- At least two different examples of publicity material, which may include but are not limited to: press releases, articles, social media and photographs of the project and public who participated in the event.
- At least two letters of support from people who can demonstrate how the project benefited the community. At least one must be from an outside entity (not from a representative of your organization).
- Brief narrative about the people involved in creating or implementing the project in which you explain their role in the project and their relationship to your organization (volunteer, paid staff, etc.).

3) Ohio Local History Alliance Champion Award

The Ohio Local History Alliance Champion Award recognizes individuals or groups (including public officials and others who are not local historians or local history organizations) for outstanding efforts in the support of and/or contributions to local history in Ohio. Nominees must demonstrate ongoing support for local history organizations and initiatives in Ohio; or exceptional service to local history in relation to one particular issue or initiative.

Support Materials for the Ohio Local History Alliance Champion Award
Nominations must be accompanied by at least two letters of recommendation for the award, and, for publicity purposes, one or more color or black-and-white photographs of the nominee(s). As with the Individual Achievement Awards, support material is very important. The review panel needs as much material as possible to help them gain a clear understanding of the nominee’s contributions to local history, such as news clippings, publicity, and documentation of advocacy actions.

Nomination Form

This form is currently closed for submissions.