Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award

Purpose and Criteria for Selection:

Established in 1973 (and modified in 1987 and 1991), this award recognizes an archivist, editor, group of individuals, or institution that has increased public awareness of a specific body of documents through compilation, transcription, exhibition, or public presentation of archives or manuscript materials for educational, instructional, or other public purpose. Archives may include photographs, films, and visual archives. Publication may be in hard copy, microfilm, laser disk, or other circulating medium.

Eligibility:

Individual archivists and editors, groups of individuals, organizations.

Nomination Requirements:

A completed nomination form and the required number of copies of supplementary material.

Sponsor and Funding:

The Society of American Archivists Foundation, with the cash prize underwritten by a fund first established by Elizabeth Hamer Kegan. The award honors two SAA Fellows and past presidents. In 1963 Elizabeth Hamer Kegan was appointed Assistant Librarian of Congress, a position in which she directed information, exhibits, publications, and international visitors' programs and shepherded the American Revolution Bicentennial Program. Her brother, Philip M. Hamer, was a historian who served successively as head of the Library, Accessions, Reference, and Records Control divisions of the National Archives, and was the first executive director of the National Historical Publications Commission. He is the author of A Guide to the Archives and Manuscripts in the United States (1961).

Prize:

A certificate and a cash prize consisting of the income of the prize fund for that year.

First Awarded:

1973

Selection Committee:

The Hamer-Kegan Award Subcommittee of the SAA Awards Committee is composed of three members of the Society of American Archivists and one of the co-chairs of the Awards Committee (ex officio). One member of the subcommittee shall be appointed each year by the SAA President-elect to serve a three-year term. The senior member of the subcommittee in years of service shall serve as chair.

Application Deadline and Nomination Form:

All nominations shall be submitted to SAA by February 28 of each year. Download the nomination form as a PDF or RTF.  Send 5 copies of the completed form and three copies of the supplementary documentation to:

Philip M. Hamer-Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award Subcommittee
Society of American Archivists
17 North State Street, Suite 1425
Chicago, IL 60602-3315

Electronic submissions also are acceptable and should be sent to awards[at]archivists.org. Please indicate "Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award" in the email subject line. Use standard file applications such as Word, Excel, or Adobe; attachments should not exceed 5MB.

Questions should be directed to the Chair of the Philip M. Hamer-Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award Subcommittee.

Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award Recipients:

1973:   Patricia A. Clark

1974:   David W. Hirst

1975:   Harold Dean Moser

1976:   Charles F. Hobson

1977:   Dorothy Twohig

1978:   Philander D. Chase

1979:   Raymond W. Smock

1980:   Linda J. Pike

1981:   Sharon Macpherson

1982:   Mary Dix

1983:   Robert E. McCarthy

1984:   David Wilson

1985:   Claude-Ann Lopez

1986:   Not awarded

1987:   Robert E. Bailey, Elaine S. Evans

1988:   Nancy Bartlett, Kathleen Koehler

1989:   Jane Doerr

1990:   Judy Hohmann

1991:   James D. Folts, Larry Hackman, Judy Hohmann

1992:   Elaine Forman Crane, Northeastern University Press

1993:   Carl Albert Center at University of Oklahoma

1994:   American Heritage Center at University of Wyoming

1995:   New York Public Library

1996:   Julie Daniels, Judy Hohmann, Jean West

1997:   Minnesota Historical Society

1998:   Linda A. Ries

1999:   Delaware Public Archives

2000:   Jeffrey D. Marshall, A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters

2001:   Shelly Henley Kelly

2002:   Vermont State Archives

2003:   New York State Archives Partnership Trust

2004:   Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

2005:   Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation

2006:  The State Library and Archives of Florida's Florida Folklife Digitization and Education Project

2007:  National Library of Medicine's Profiles in Science

2008:  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the CBC Digital Archives (Les archives de Radio-Canada)

2009:  Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections of the University of Toledo

2010:  Giza Archives at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2011:  March On Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project team (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries)