By Michael Swanger
If you missed Iowa History Journal’s social media posts on Facebook and Instagram (please follow us) the State Historical Society of Iowa announced the state’s highest awards for history in late May. Among those who were recognized for their work was Rachelle Chase, who received a 2021 George Mills & Louise Noun Popular History Award Certificate of Recognition for her Iowa History Journal January/February 2020 cover story, “Buxton: A Coal Mining Town Ahead of Its Time.”
Copies of Iowa History Journal’s January/February 2020 issue featuring Rachelle Chase’s cover story about Buxton are available at iowahistoryjournal.com.
The George Mills & Louise Noun Popular History Award, bestowed by the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees, “recognizes the author of the most significant popular history article on an Iowa history topic published during the previous calendar year. It’s named in honor of Mills, an Iowa reporter and popular historian, and Noun, a philanthropist and expert on women’s history.” It is one of the annual Excellence in History Awards presented by the board “to recognize individuals, organizations and communities who make outstanding contributions to the study and practice of Iowa history.”
Chase joins a growing list of writers whose editorial contributions to Iowa History Journal have won or received special recognition regarding the George Mills & Louise Noun Popular History Award. Her in-depth cover story about Buxton reflects her years of research and expertise about the former Mahaska County mining town that was founded in 1900. It was renowned for its groundbreaking racial harmony in which African Americans thrived alongside their white neighbors as community leaders. Chase is the author of two books about Buxton, including “Lost Buxton” and “Creating the Black Utopia of Buxton, Iowa.” To learn more about Chase’s work, visit RachelleChase.com.
The winners of other categories for this year’s Excellence in History Awards include sisters Bonnie Smola of Monona and Donna Story of Hawkeye and their late husbands, John Smola and Steve Story, who received the William J. Petersen and Edgar R. Harlan Lifetime Achievement Award for their work spanning five decades to preserve and promote Iowa history. They championed numerous projects, including the a grant to conserve and revitalize the 1896 pipe organ at the Union Sunday School in Clermont and the preservation of books, furniture, clothing and hand tools at the Clermont Museum and Montauk Historic Site. They also helped to restore and preserve pioneer cemeteries and identified fabrics, ribbons and other materials used to create artifacts in the Meskawaki Cultural Center and Museum in Tama.
The Linn County Conservation Department won the Loren Horton Community History Award for its efforts to rename the county park at the junction of Iowa Highways 13 and 100 in Marion. The park’s new name, Wanatee Park, honors the late Adeline Wanatee, an advocate for Native American and women’s rights.
Also, H. Roger Grant’s “A Mighty Fine Road: A History of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Company,” won the Benjamin F. Shambaugh Book Award.
For a complete list of winners of this year’s awards, visit iowaculture.gov.
In other news regarding the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, it announced $600,000 in grants for historic preservation projects in or near Creston (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Station), Decorah (Winneshiek County Courthouse), Elkader (Inn at Motor Mill), Keokuk (Keokuk Union Depot) and Muscatine (1929 Japanese Garden at the Laura Musser McColm Historic District).
In early June, the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees also announced the winners of this year’s historic preservation awards during the annual Preserve Iowa Summit presented by the State Historic Preservation Office, which is part of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The list of award recipients includes the Davidson House (Des Moines), Peter Lampe House (Davenport), Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building (Des Moines), Buchanan School (Davenport), Dixon Site Riverbank Stabilization Project (Woodbury County), Winterset Facade Rehabilitation Project (Madison County), Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center/McCormick Harvesting Co. Building (Council Bluffs), East Des Moines Union Depot/Des Moines Heritage Center (Des Moines), Honoring Black History in Iowa City (Iowa City), Naval Station Apartments, LLC (Davenport) and St. Kilda Collective (West Des Moines). For more information about the awards visit preservationiowa.org.
Iowa History Journal congratulates those who won awards or were recognized for their work to preserve Iowa’s history. We encourage you to support them this summer, as well as the cultural attractions that advertise in our family-owned, statewide magazine devoted exclusively to the preservation of Iowa’s fascinating history.
TO READ MORE FASCINATING STORIES ABOUT IOWA HISTORY, subscribe to Iowa History Journal. You can also purchase back issues at the store.