Jeff Morgan, (515) 281-3858, Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov

Des Moines, Iowa—The State Historical Society of Iowa today recognized two of the best articles on Iowa history published in the last year at its annual Celebrating Community History Awards at the State Historical Building.

Susan C. Lawrence earned the Throne-Aldrich Award for her article “Iowa Physicians: Legitimacy, Institutions, and the Practice of Medicine,” Part 1, “Establishing a Professional Identity, 1833-1886,”which appeared in the Annals of Iowa in its Spring 2003 issue.

“Iowa Physicians” recounts the history of medicine in Iowa as much more than the history of institutions and laws, although the two things, nevertheless, outlined the distribution of medical authority among the groups who define medical knowledge and who bring it to the ill and injured. Lawrence points to the diverse options available to Iowans in the past and shows how the paths taken were the result of human choices made in particular conditions.

A Certificate of Recognition was presented to Leslie A. Schwalm for her article, “Emancipation Day Celebrations: The Commemoration of Slavery and Freedom in Iowa,” which appeared in the Annals of Iowa in its Summer 2003 issue.

Schwalm investigates the disappearance of Emancipation Day celebrations in the state of Iowa. In the article, she states that Iowans lost not simply a holiday, but an important opportunity to sustain their connection to local and regional African American history, especially the region’s ties to the national themes of slavery and emancipation.

The Throne-Aldrich Award is named in honor of Mildred Throne, longtime editor of the Iowa Journal of History and Politics, and Charles Aldrich, founder of the Annals of Iowa. The award recognizes the best articles published in the Annals of Iowa during the preceding year.

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