Participants are eligible to win a $1,000 cash prize. A framed certificate will be presented for the best manuscript that uses NEARA’s archival records, particularly the Lawrence County territorial papers of 1815 to 1836. The winning paper will be considered for publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly journal.
Anyone is eligible to submit a manuscript. A three-person panel, which is comprised of representatives of NEARA and the Arkansas Historical Association, will pick the winner. The association reserves the right not to award a prize in a given year.
Entries must not have been submitted elsewhere or published previously and must be no longer than 35 pages. Papers must contain citations from documents housed at NEARA to qualify. NEARA documents posted online are acceptable.
The manuscript’s text, including quotations and notes, must be double-spaced. Footnotes must be numbered consecutively. Because manuscripts are evaluated anonymously, only the full title of the article can appear on top of the first page of the manuscript. Please include title, author’s name, complete physical mailing address, telephone numbers and email address on a separate page.
Submit three copies of the manuscript that are clear and readable. No copies will be returned but will be added to NEARA’s collections and to the Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries in Fayetteville. Submission of an entry assumes permission for researcher use.
Please mail manuscripts postmarked by Feb. 1 to: NEARA Award – Arkansas Historical Association; Department of History, Old Main 416, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701. The winner will be announced in April, during the Arkansas Historical Association’s conference in Conway.
The Arkansas Historical Association sponsors the award, which was established in 2013 to honor Lawrence County Historical Society volunteers who saved the territorial records for future researchers when the Powhatan County seat was abandoned in 1963. Volunteers also lobbied for a regional archives, which was established in 2011. The family of Eugene Sloan, a Jonesboro lawyer who was born in Powhatan in 1892, funds the award.
NEARA staff are available to help researchers locate topics or delve further into works in progress. For more information about the award or for submission guidelines, visit the Arkansas Historical Association at http://arkansashistoricalassociation.org/?page_id=19. To learn more about the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives visit http://archives.arkansas.gov/ArkansasStateArchives/Regional-Archives.
