By JAMES P. FADELY, PH.D.
President, The Society Of Indiana Pioneers

INDIANAPOLIS — To promote outstanding scholarship, research, and writing about Hoosier history, The Society of Indiana Pioneers will award a $5,000 first prize and two other prizes of lesser amounts to individuals who publish the most significant contributions to the state’s pioneer history.

These must be published in 2013, 2014, 2015 or early 2016. An entry may be a book, article, essay or original work in digital format on a disk or permanent website.

Authors, producers and others who wish to nominate a work can download the nomination form and select the SIP Centennial/Indiana Bicentennial tab or can contact the Society’s Office Manager at the Indiana State Library, 140 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204.

A panel of judges will consider works with cutting edge scholarship, advances in knowledge, and superior or new research techniques. The deadline for nominations is March 1.

Dr. James P. Fadely, president of The Society of Indiana Pioneers, explained the mission of the group is “to honor the memory and the work of the pioneers of Indiana.” Award checks will be presented June 27, at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park during a centennial celebration of The Society of Indiana Pioneers in collaboration with the Friends of the Indiana Archives and descendants of the signers of the 1816 Constitution.

These awards, known as the John Hampden Holliday Prize, are named for the founder of The Society of Indiana Pioneers and the former owner of the Indianapolis News newspaper. The Society was founded in 1916 and will celebrate its centennial as the state of Indiana marks its bicentennial in 2016. This competition is an official Legacy Project endorsed by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission.