AASLH News:NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that the Los Alamos Historical Society is the recipient of two Awards of Merit for the new exhibits at the Los Alamos History Museum as well as its recently published book, Doomed to Cooperate.
The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 72nd year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
“These are tremendous honors for our organization,” said Heather McClenahan, executive director of the Los Alamos Historical Society. “Kudos to our terrific
volunteers, our hard-working staff, and our devoted board of directors for their outstanding work and dedication. We are proud to be the storytellers and preservationists for the world-changing history of this community.”
The Los Alamos History Museum received the award for its newly opened exhibits that incorporate multiple perspectives and hands-on activities. The history of Los Alamos is told broadly, and the stories include not only scientific heroes of the Manhattan Project but all who participated. Also considered were the roles played by under-represented populations such as women, army personnel, and the nearby Native Americans and Hispanos.
Additionally, these stories are placed in the context of the whole history of the Pajarito Plateau, including accounts of the Ancestral Pueblo people the Hispano homesteaders, the Los Alamos Ranch School and the role the community played in the Cold War.
The Historical Society’s publishing division, Bathtub Row Press, was also honored for its landmark book, Doomed to Cooperate: How American and Russian Scientists Joined Forces to Avert Some of the Great Post–Cold War Nuclear Dangers. The book tells the remarkable story of nuclear scientists from two former enemy nations who reached across political, geographic, and cultural divides to confront, together, the new nuclear threats that resulted from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
This two-volume set, edited by Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Emeritus Siegfried Hecker, shares this previously untold story of lab-to- lab collaboration with more than one hundred Russian and American scientists and leaders contributing in papers, vignettes, and interviews. It presents the challenges to cooperation, the trust and true friendship built in collaboration, and the successes of the hundreds of people who came together to make the world a safer place.
This year, AASLH is proud to confer forty-eight national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, and publications. The winners represent the best in the field
and provide leadership for the future of state and local history. Presentation of the awards will be made at a special banquet during the 2017 AASLH Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, on Friday, September 8. The banquet is supported by a generous contribution from the History Channel. Representatives from the Los Alamos Historical Society, who are presenting a roundtable discussion about the exhibit redesign process at the Annual Meeting, will be in attendance to receive the awards.
The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also bring public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make contributions in this arena.
For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615.320.3203, or go to www.aaslh.org.
The American Association for State and Local History is a not-for- profit professional organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service, and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful in American society. AASLH publishes books, technical publications, a quarterly magazine, a monthly newsletter, and maintains numerous affinity groups and committees serving a broad range of constituents across the historical community. The association also sponsors regional and national training workshops and an annual meeting.
The Los Alamos Historical Society preserves, promotes, and communicates the remarkable history and inspiring stories of Los Alamos and its people for the community, for the global audience, and for future generations. This is accomplished through the Los Alamos History Museum, the Los Alamos Historical Society Archives and Collection, publications through Bathtub Row Press, ownership and interpretation of historic buildings, and educational programs such as a monthly lecture series and children’s classes.
The Historical Society and Los Alamos County also recently won the Edgar Lee Hewett Award from the Historical Society of New Mexico for “for outstanding service to the people of New Mexico, as related to New Mexico history.”
The Los Alamos History Museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 but is free to Los Alamos Historical Society members, residents of Los Alamos County, 18 and under, and active duty military.
