Award-Winning Articles
Each year, the Oregon Historical Quarterly presents the Joel Palmer Award to the author of the best article published in the journal during the previous year. The award was established by Omar C. “Slug” Palmer and William J. Lang in honor of their ancestor Joel Palmer, an Oregon pioneer. It is voted on by members of the Quarterly's Editorial Advisory Board. In addition to the first-place prize, which carries with it $300, two authors are presented honorable mention. Read past Palmer Award–winning articles below as well as explore other award-winning OHQ articles that have been recognized by noted national historical organizations.
2021 Joel Palmer Award
The first-place winner of the 2021 Palmer Award is Jane Cigarran’s “The Case of Cheryl D. James: Institutionalized Racism and Police Violence Against Black Women in Portland, Oregon (1968–1974),” published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly’s Spring 2020 issue. Honorable mentions go to Marc James Carpenter’s “Pioneer Problems: ‘Wanton Murder,’ Indian War Veterans, and Oregon's Violent History” (Summer 2020), and...
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The first-place winner of the 2020 Joel Palmer Award is Katrine Barber’s “‘We were at our journey’s end’: Settler Sovereignty Formation in...
Learn More2019 Joel Palmer Award
The 2019 Joel Palmer Award winner is the Summer 2018 Special Issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly, “Oregon’s Manila Galleon.” The Joel Palmer
Learn More2018 Joel Palmer Award
The first-place winner of the 2018 Joel Palmer Award is Kimberly Jensen’s “Women's 'Positive Patriotic Duty' to Participate: The Practice of...
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The first-place winner of the 2017 Joel Palmer Award is Douglas Deur’s “The Making of Seaside's "Indian Place": Contested and Enduring...
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The first-place winner of the 2016 Joel Palmer Award is "Criminal Operations": The First Fifty Years of Abortion Trials in Portland,...
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