Awards
Call for
Nominations for the Annual SPA Awards
Deadline for the Individual Recognition
Awards is March 15, 2025
(Deadlines for other awards are listed in the award descriptions)
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General Guidelines for Individual Recognition Awards:
1) Any State SPA member in good
standing or an SPA Chapter as a
group, may submit one or more
nominations in writing to the
Awards Committee.
SPA Individual Recognition Awards:
SPA Chapter Recognition Awards:
Student Competitive Awards:
Please mail or email nominations to: |
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SPA Awards Chair:
Dr. John P. Nass, Jr. |
Awards Committee Members
John Nass, Jr,, Committee Chair |
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The Lifetime Achievement Award
is a special award that is given
during the dinner banquet at the
SPA annual meeting. A nominee
must have at least 20 years
of outstanding service to
archaeology in Pennsylvania
and/or the SPA, should have been
a member of SPA for the
same amount of time, and be an
exemplary proponent of the
mission of the SPA. J. ALDEN
MASON AWARD
The J. Alden Mason Award is
given to a professional
archaeologist based upon her/his
contribution to education and
encouragement of SPA members in
the proper pursuit of
archaeology over an appreciable
number of years. A professional
in a related science who
similarly assists SPA members
may be considered for this award
as well. The recipient of this
award must be a member of the
State SPA (not just a local
chapter), but not necessarily a
resident of Pennsylvania. Any
individual SPA member or Chapter
as a whole ARCHEY
AWARD The Archey Award is given to a member of the Society able to devote only spare time to their archaeological interests. Any individual SPA member or Chapter as a whole, may nominate someone for this award. The recipient of this award must be a member of the State SPA (not just a local chapter), but not necessarily a resident of Pennsylvania. The award is presented to an individual who has given significant contributions, over an appreciable period of time, toward the unselfish furtherance of Pennsylvania’s Archaeology. This includes offices held; numbers and kinds of speaking engagements; published articles or reports; number and kinds of sites recorded and/or excavated; work with young people to acquaint them with archaeology, etc. The number of separate nominations and the significance of the reasons given for the nomination are weighed in making the selection for this award. The award is announced during the dinner banquet at the SPA Annual Meeting. SHRADER/GEORGE
YOUTH AWARD
The
Shrader/George Youth Award is
given to an SPA member who is 18
years old or younger, and is an
example of the SPA’s ideal of
youth, whose character,
accomplishments, and unselfish
effort has furthered the cause
of Pennsylvania archaeology. The
recipient of this award must be
a member of the State SPA (not
just a local chapter), but not
necessarily a resident of
Pennsylvania. Any individual SPA
member or Chapter as a whole
Student
Competitive Awards The Pennsylvania Archaeological Council (PAC), in cooperation with the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA), will again award scholarships to enable students of archaeology to attend the annual joint SPA/PAC meeting, April 14-16, 2023, in DuBois, Pennsylvania. We anticipate that up to four awards of $150 apiece will be made. We encourage all current college or high school students with a demonstrated interest in Pennsylvania archaeology and the activities of the SPA to apply, although preference will be given to students planning to present papers or posters at the meeting. Applications, in the form of a brief letter of interest explaining the student’s background and qualifications for the award, should be sent by mail or e-mail by April 7, 2023 to:
Paul Raber
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W.
Fred Kinsey Scholarship (Illustrations by Frederick Mayhew) |
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Calling All Students-
Win an SPA Membership, free
food and money for your research!
The W. Fred Kinsey Scholarship was created in 2009 to encourage students to participate at the annual meetings of the Society by presenting scholarly research in a friendly, professional atmosphere. Dr. Kinsey was a curator with the former William Penn Memorial Museum, now The State Museum, before going on to Franklin and Marshall College and The North Museum in the early 60’s thru the mid 1980’s. He made significant contributions to the archaeological record and mentored many students who went on to become noteworthy archaeologists on their own merits.
Students currently pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree are eligible to apply for the W. Fred Kinsey Scholarship. Eligibility is dependent on a complete, single-author paper with PowerPoint slides (if appropriate) to be presented at the annual meeting of The Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. Students are not required to attend Pennsylvania institutions, but research must be relevant to Pennsylvania Archaeology. Student presentations must be accepted by the program chair for the SPA annual meeting to qualify. Award of the Scholarship requires submission of the completed paper by a single author, in an electronic format to the Program Chair by the regular submission deadline date (March 7, 2023). Any student wanting to be considered for the W. Fred Kinsey Scholarship should notify the program chair so that the student’s name, title/abstract can be forwarded to the Scholarship committee, contingent upon being accepted by the program chair for the 2022 SPA Annual Meeting. If a student’s title/abstract is accepted for the annual meeting, the scholarship committee chair, Janet Johnson, will contact the student(s) directly with further instructions. Students should not contact the scholarship committee themselves.
Selection of the winning paper is decided by committee review and will be based on quality of original research, presentation, and appeal to the avocational and professional archaeology community. The committee consists of at least three members of the Society: one member from the PHMC, one member from the education committee of the Society, and the annual meeting program chair or her/his designate. For more information go to www.pennsylvaniaarchaeology.com/Awards.
Presentation of the award will be announced during the banquet at the annual meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, scheduled for April 14-16, 2023, in DuBois, Pennsylvania. The selected student paper will go through a preliminary editing process prior to submission to the editor of the journal, Pennsylvania Archaeologist, for possible publication. The editor of the journal will make the final decision on publication. Donations to support this scholarship fund are encouraged to support student achievement and development. In addition to the monetary award of $150.00 and publication assistance, a one year membership in the Society is included in the award, as well as a reimbursement for the banquet. Questions about the Kinsey scholarship may be directed to Janet Johnson, Curator of Archaeology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania janjohnson@pa.gov
SPA Chapter Recognition Awards
The John Witthoft and the Frances Dorrance Awards are specialty awards which are non-competitive. The John Witthoft award is determined by the SPA Treasurer and Secretary and the Frances Dorrance Award is determined by the State Historic Preservation Office staff.
JOHN WITTHOFT
AWARD
Past Recipients
The John Witthoft Award is given to the SPA Chapter that recruited the most new State SPA members and/or reinstated the highest number of delinquent State SPA members in the previous calendar year. This award is determined by the SPA Treasurer and Secretary. The award is announced during the dinner banquet at the SPA Annual Meeting.
FRANCES
DORRANCE AWARD
Past Recipients
The Frances Dorrance Award is given to the SPA Chapter that has recorded the most new sites and/or submitted the most site updates with the Pennsylvania Archaeology Site Survey (PASS) at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in the previous calendar year. This award is determined by the (SHPO) staff. To be considered for the award, site forms must include the SPA Chapter number on the Administrative form. The award is announced during the dinner banquet at the SPA Annual Meeting.