Winners of Legion history contests announced

Part of the report of American Legion National Historian Fred Doten to the National Executive Committee on Oct. 18 was the announcement of the winners of the 2018 American Legion National History Contests.

Entries in the One-Year Narrative and One-Year Yearbook categories for both posts and departments were judged during Fall Meetings by a group of past and present department and national historians. There were a total of 42 entries across the four categories.

The 2018 winners are:

One-Year Department Narrative History Contest:

First Award, Plaque, Department of North Carolina

Second Award, Plaque, Department of Indiana

Third Award, Plaque, Department of Colorado

One-Year Department Yearbook History Contest:

First Award, Plaque, Department of North Carolina

Second Award, Plaque, Department of Nebraska

Third Award, Plaque, Department of New York

One-Year Post Narrative History Contest:

First Award, Plaque, Frierson-Nichols Post 8, Winter Haven, Fla.

Second Award, Plaque, Pony Express Post 359, Saint Joseph, Mo.

Third Award, Plaque, Madelyn LaCanne Post 539, Green Bay, Wis.

One-Year Post Yearbook History Contest:

First Award, Plaque, Women Veterans Of Southwest Missouri Post 1214, Springfield, Mo.

Second Award, Plaque, Warren F. Hoyle Post 82, Shelby, N.C.

Third Award, Plaque, Julius L. Shryer Post 430, Durant, Iowa

On Oct. 16, the historians gathered in the fourth-floor library at National Headquarters for the annual meeting of their organization, the National Association of Department Historians of the American Legion (NADHAL). Doten praised NADHAL members’ good work in collecting and preserving the records of what Legion posts and departments do each year for the future; in addition to his national office, he himself is still serving as historian at his post, Richard Springston Post 60 in Laughlin, Nev.

National staff reported on the status of the Legion’s Centennial Celebration, in the wake of the 15-month window opening in August at the 100th National Convention in Minneapolis. Reports were also given on the activities of the regional areas that make up NADHAL, and the possibility of accepting digital contest entries (study is ongoing).

Learn more about NADHAL at www.nadhal.org. Read the guidelines for composing a contest entry in the Legion’s Trophies, Awards & Ceremonials Manual. If you have never done one before, the Legion's centennial year is the perfect time to begin.