The Mormon History Association presents the following awards each year to encourage and foster the highest ideals in scholarly research and publication.

The Awards Summary contains all the awards issued to date--download the pdf file now (95kb): Mormon History Association Awards Summary

Leonard J. Arrington Award
Awarded for distinguished and meritorious service to Mormon history.
Named and given in memory and recognition of a founding father of the Mormon History Association and premier mentor and promoter of Mormon history.

Silver Award for Mormon Women's History - $350
Awarded for an outstanding article on the experiences of Mormon women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sponsored by t he Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT), an independent group of scholars from around the United States who encourage research, writing, and publications on Mormon women’s history. Initial funding comes from the Silver Foundation.

Andrew Jenson International Article Award - $350
Awarded to the best international Mormon history article (in print or online journals). This award has been established by Joseph and Julia todd to honor the outstanding contribution of the Assistant Church Historian who documented nearly every LDS congregation around the world. Preference will be given to articles examining non-U.S. locals' perspectives rather than American missionary accounts.

MHA Best Book Award - $2,000
Awarded for the best book published on Mormon history.
Given to honor and encourage the sense of Purpose, dedication, excellence of study, research and scholarship in the field of Mormon history. This award is funded by Curt Bench and Curtis T. Atkisson, Jr. in memory of his wife, Mary Ann Atkisson, a lover of history, an accomplished artist, and MHA member.

Smith-Pettit Best First Book Award - $1,200
Awarded for the best first book published on Mormon history.
Funded by the Smith-Pettit Foundation, a private operating foundation, in support of scholarly Mormon studies.

Steven F. Christensen Award for Best Documentary/Bibliography - $1,000
Awarded for the best published documentary or bibliography on Mormon history.
Steven Christensen's interest in Mormon history and documents, as well as his love for family and life were tragically cut short in 1985 with his death. Members of his family created this award in his honor.

Ella Larsen Turner-Ella Ruth Turner Bergera Award for Best Biography - $1,000
Awarded for the best published biography in the field of Mormon history.
Ella Larsen Turner was a published historian and genealogist. After her death, family members wanted to honor her by encouraging scholarship in the field of biography. her dauther Ella Bergera, taught children's literature for 20 years at Brigham Young University. She is a published novelist and poet.

Geraldine McBride Woodward Award - $1,000
Awarded for the best international Mormon history publication, $1,000.
To honor an outstanding woman whose great love of Mormon history she has promoted among her family, friends, and students. Her family funds this award to honor Geraldine’s interest in advancing and perpetuating this remarkable heritage and her enduring service.

Gerald E. Jones Dissertation Award - $800
Gerald E. Jones served for many years as an administrator and instructor for the LDS Church Education System. This award is presented in the honor and memory of the many students he influenced.

Winchester Family and Community History Award - $500
Awarded to the best commercially or privately published and thoroughly researched family or community history relating to the Mormon experience prior to 1980.
The Winchesters were early converts whose history reflects Mormonism’s tumultuous first century and a half and is funded by the Scott family in memory of their mother, Marjorie June Winchester Scott, a local historian, museum curator, and MHA member. 

T. Edgar Lyon Award for Best Article of the Year - $500
Awarded for the best published article on Mormon history.
An institute teacher at the University of Utah, Lyon was well known as an expert on Nauvoo. For years he worked with Nauvoo Restoration and was MHA president in 1968-1969. This award was created and funded by members of his family.

Lester E. Bush Award for Two Best Theses - $400 each
Lester E. Bush served for five years as Associate Editor of Dialogue and wrote many articles and one one book. His most noteworthy achievement was a Dialogue article published in 1973, on Blacks and the priesthood. He spent his career as a physician working for the federal government and is now retired.

J. Talmage Jones Awards of Excellence - $350 each
Awarded for the two outstanding published articles on Mormon history. Funded by the (Christopher) Jones Family Trust, as a tribute to their father, an excellent example of Christian values.

Juanita Brooks Award for Best Graduate Paper - $400
Awarded to a university or college graduate student for the best paper on Mormon History, $400.

Juanita Brooks Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper - $300
Awarded to a university or college undergraduate student for the best paper on Mormon history, $300. Both Brooks Awards are funded by Lola Van Wagenen to honor Juanita Brooks for her life of dedication, scholarship, and the courage in which she has led the way in an honest and professional approach to the study of the Mormon past.

Thomas L. Kane Award
Presented to a person outside of the Mormon community who made a significant contribution to Mormon history.
This award is presented in the grand tradition of Thomas L. Kane, the Pennsylvania native who, in 1857, put his reputation on the line in behalf of compromise and peace.

Special Citations
Presented to a person or institution who made a significant contribution to Mormon history.