Nominations for the 2012 Schlebecker Award are now being accepted. Nominations should be sent to Susan McCabe, Award Committee Chair, and are due by March 15, 2012.

The Schlebecker Award was established in 1988 to honor Dr. John T. Schlebecker, renowned agricultural historian and a driving force behind the establishment of ALHFAM. This lifetime award is intended to recognize individuals within the organization who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and development of ALHFAM. The Award may be presented to one recipient a year.

The wording on the award is: “The John T. Schlebecker Award is presented to [Recipient] by the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums for outstanding service and commitment to ALHFAM and the members it serves.”

 

Criteria for Award:
The recipient must be an ALHFAM member but cannot be a current Board member.
Proposed recipients of the Schlebecker Award have demonstrated long-term and outstanding service to ALHFAM. Such notable service may include one or more of the following:

1. Leadership in the organization at the Regional, Board, or other significant level.
2. Substantial in-kind or direct financial contribution to the organization.
3. Scholarly achievements including writing articles for the Bulletin or other publications.
4. Frequent presentations or teaching workshops at regional or national conferences.
5. Serving as a mentor and role model for individuals within ALHFAM and the living history field while providing the leadership to promote and strengthen the organization.
6. Other significant or outstanding service to the organization.

Nomination Process:

1. Any ALHFAM member may nominate one candidate a year for the award.
2. All nominations shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Awards Committee in written or electronic form at least three months prior to the annual conference. Consult the ALHFAM Bulletin or the ALHFAM website at alhfam.org for the Chair’s contact information.
3. Nominations shall be in the form of a letter that outlines the contributions the candidate has made to ALHFAM and why they should be considered for this award. Nominators should specifically address the criteria listed above and provide supporting evidence. This may include “letters of support” from others besides the nominator.

Selection Process:

1. The Awards Chair distributes the nominations to the Awards Committee.
2. The Awards committee agrees by consensus in a timely manner on the most worthy candidate, and submits its selection to the President.
3. The President presents the selection to the entire Board (Directors and Officers) for approval.
4. The President notifies the successful candidate at least one month before the annual conference.
5. Unsuccessful nominations will not be reconsidered unless re-nominated annually. There is no set number of times a candidate may be nominated.

Making the Award:

1. The ALHFAM President, or person(s) appointed by the President, will make the award at the annual conference.
2. The recipient will be featured in an article in the Bulletin following the annual conference.

Past recipients of the Schlebecker Award include:

• 1988 John T. Schlebecker
• 1990 Tom Brown
• 1991 Bill Murray
• 1992 Peter Cousins
• 1993 Ron Kley
• 1994 Al Gray
• 1995 George Paloheimo
• 1996 Candace Matelic
• 1998 Donna Braden
• 2000 Debra Reid & Tom Woods
• 2002 Edward Baker
• 2003 Alvin Gerhardt
• 2004 Blake Hayes
• 2005 Peter Ledwith
• 2007 Edward Hawes
• 2008 Jay Anderson
• 2010 Lynne Belluscio
• 2011 John A. Caramia Jr.