Texas Women's History Foundation wins 2 national awards
Press Release
Posted: June 25, 2012
For Immediate Release
AUSTIN, TX--The Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women's History (RWF) is pleased to announce that it has won two prestigious national awards for its efforts to educate the public about the history of women in Texas.
The National Council on Public History (NCPH), a professional association located in Indianapolis that advocates for history and historians, selected "Texas Women's History Moments," a one-month series of radio broadcasts aired during Women's History Month on Austin Public Radio Station KUT in 2011 (and again in 2012), for its "Outstanding Public History Project Award," only one of which is given annually. The prize included $1,000 for furthering the Winegarten Foundation's work.
NCPH commended the project for its excellent research, broad public audience, and impressive evidence of public impact, represented by letters of support from a wide variety of KUT listeners. The NCPH also commended the project's integration into the foundation website, which features an extensive selection of easily accessible lesson plans, a timeline, biographies, illustrations, a bibliography, and links to related sites. "In this manner the project lives on for the continuing use of students, teachers, and the general public," the NCPH noted.
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), a professional organization located in Nashville working to preserve and promote state and local history, also selected "Texas Women's History Moments" for a Leadership in History Award of Merit, the only Texas project so honored by the group in 2012.
Now in its 67th year, the Leadership in History Award recognizes achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. According to the AASLH, the 59 awards conferred in 2012 across the nation "represent the best in the field, honor significant achievements, and provide leadership for the future of state and local history."
Produced in collaboration with Austin's public radio station KUT, "Texas Women's History Moments" comprised thirty-one 90-second stories describing a wide-ranging selection of Texas women and organizations through time, regions, areas of achievement, and race/ethnicity. Each feature was broadcast four times daily throughout March.
The stories included both well-known and little-known topics, such as Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins, Indian Women, María Cassiano, Juanita Craft, Hortense Ward and Estela Portillo Trambley.
RWF members wrote scripts for each broadcast, including bibliographies; the recordings, produced by KUT, continue to be available to the public at the Winegarten Foundation's website, www.womenintexashistory.org.
Contact: Nancy Baker Jones, President, RWF
512 892 0224
John Dichti, Executive Director, NCPH
317 272 7142
Bethany Hawkins, Program Associate, AASLH
615 320 3203
