Iowa Heritage Illustrated

Kernek, Clare L

Basketball in Iowa

English

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.88 no.2, Summer 2007

Liepa, John

The PetersenIHarlan Award
EVERY YEAR, the State Historical So­
ciety of Iowa presents the Petersen/ 
Harlan Award to recognize an indi­
vidual, group, or organization that has 
made significant long-term or continu­
ing contributions to Iowa history. The 
award is named in honor of William 
J. Petersen, long-time director of the 
State Historical Society in Iowa City, 
and Edgar Ruby Harlan, the second 
director and curator of the Historical 
Department of Iowa in Des Moines.
On May 21, 2007, the State His­
torical Society of Iowa presented this 
award to Richard H.Thomas of Mount 
Vernon, Iowa. For the past 40 years, 
Thomas has been an outstanding ad­
vocate for the study, appreciation, and 
accessibility of Iowa history. In 1974 
he became the first chair of the Iowa
State Historical Board, playing a major 
role in directing the consolidation and 
operation of the three state agencies 
related to Iowa history. Three years 
later Governor Robert Ray appointed 
him as the first chair of theTerrace Hill 
Authority, which transformed Terrace 
Hill into one of the nation’s best ex­
amples of adaptive reuse of a historic 
building. From 1974 to 1988 he per­
formed yeoman service on the State 
National Register Nomination Review 
Committee.
As a history professor at Cornell 
College in Mount Vernon from 1967 
until 1996,Thomas taught courses on 
architectural history. Some of his stu­
dents have gone on to careers in his­
tory and historic preservation, while 
others have certainly taken a greater
appreciation for history and architec­
ture into their daily lives. A champion 
of local historic preservation, he pre­
pared the nomination of the Cornell 
College Historic District to the Na­
tional Register of Historic Places, and 
served as founding chair of the Mount 
Vernon Historic Preservation Com­
mission as well as chair of both the 
Linn County Historic Preservation 
Commission and the Linn County His­
torical Society.
Today Thomas is professor of his­
tory and chaplain emeritus of Cornell 
College. Although he retired in 1996, 
he continues to teach, and in 2004 he 
authored Volume 2 of Cornell College.A 
Sesquicentennial History, 1853-2003.
—John Liepa, Board ofTrustees 
State Historical Society of Iowa
Richard H. Thomas (center) receives the 2007 Petersen/ 
Harlan Award from Cyndi Pederson, executive director 
of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and John Liepa, 
representing the State Historical Society of Iowa Board 
ofTrustees.
The Politics 
of History
b y  R ic h a r d  H .  T h o m a s
R
eceiving the Petersen/Harlan Award from the 
State Historical Society of Iowa genuinely hum­
bles me. It means a great deal to me, and I thank 
all those who supported it for me. It is hard to realize 
that I am now part of a company of former colleagues 
and friends I have long respected and admired as ma­
jor contributors to Iowa history. As I stand here I sense 
the presence of many colleagues and friends over these 
past 40 years —those who taught me, nurtured me in 
the ways of Iowa history and the workings of Iowa 
politics. I have been blessed with wonderful mentors 
and supporters —too many to mention in these brief 
remarks. I gladly admit that I would not be here if
50 Iowa Heritage Illustrated


The Petersen/Harlan Award

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.88 no.1, Spring 2007

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.88 no.4, Winter 2007

Perry, Michael J

Ancient Waterman Creek

Smith, Michael O

Made from Mud: Iowa Potters & Potteries, 1830-1930

Kerbaugh, Sherrill Lynn Hofer

Summer Storm

Yearly Index, Iowa Heritage Illustrated, v.88 2007

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.88 no.3, Fall 2007

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